There have been no new cases of COVID-19 and six more recoveries among Lincoln County residents in the past week, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The last new case was reported Oct. 6.
According to data current as of Monday, Oct. 12, since COVID-19 arrived in Lincoln County in mid-March, there have been 50 cases of the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus reported in Lincoln County residents — 44 confirmed and six probable.
Forty-three of the 50 people have recovered and one has died, leaving six active cases. The number of active cases is calculated by subtracting recoveries and deaths from the total number of confirmed and probable cases.
The case rate for Lincoln County is 14.6 per 10,000 people. Community transmission has not been detected, according to the Maine CDC. Five residents have been hospitalized at some point in their illness.
According to LincolnHealth spokesperson John Martins, the hospital performed 409 tests from Oct. 5-11 with no positives. The number of tests is the highest weekly total to date.
Martins said that despite much higher testing numbers and a large call volume at the Respiratory Care Clinic, LincolnHealth has not recorded a positive test so far in the month of October.
Of the 409 tests LincolnHealth performed in the past week, 240 were clinical, for people exhibiting symptoms; 40 were of patients without symptoms at either admission or discharge from the hospital; and 129 were preoperative or of people with known exposure to COVID-19 who did not exhibit symptoms.
LincolnHealth also hosts a state-sponsored “swab-and-send” testing program at the Respiratory Care Clinic, at the Webster Van Winkle Building on the hospital’s Miles Campus in Damariscotta. Martins said that in the past week, 18 of these tests have been conducted with no known positives.
The swab-and-send site currently offers drive-up testing by appointment outside the clinic from 8 a.m. to noon Wednesday and Thursday. To make an appointment, call the clinic at 563-4353.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services has said that anyone who feels they need a COVID-19 test in Maine can now get one at a swab-and-send clinic — even without symptoms, known exposure, or a doctor’s order.
Since July 13, LincolnHealth has conducted 3,836 tests with 15 positives, for a cumulative positivity rate of 0.39%.
According to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center, as of Sept. 29, Maine’s seven-day average positivity rate is 0.5%, down from 0.6% last week.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the nationwide positivity rate for “week 40,” ending Oct. 3, was 4.9%.
LincolnHealth is offering drive-up flu shots for anyone over the age of 7 every weekend in October, but the clinics for Saturday, Oct. 17 were canceled due to the forecast of high winds and inclement weather, said Martins. All other clinics will go on as scheduled.
The clinics are at the Respiratory Care Clinic on the Miles Campus and the Family Care Center on the St. Andrews Campus in Boothbay Harbor. Hours are 1-5 p.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays.
Health officials say the flu shot is especially important this year, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
State COVID-19 numbers
According to data current as of Monday, the Maine CDC has reported 5,780 COVID-19 cases in Maine, an increase of 215 from the week before. Of those cases, 620 are probable.
There have been 463 hospitalizations and 5,006 people have recovered. There have been 143 deaths so far from COVID-19 in Maine. The statewide case rate is 43.2 per 10,000 people.
The number of active cases, 631, is an increase of 47 from a week before.
