Maine now has 70 confirmed coronavirus cases

Maine now has 70 confirmed cases of coronavirus, an increase of 14 since Friday, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Saturday afternoon.

The news came after the retirement community OceanView at Falmouth reported a sixth positive test for the novel coronavirus, this time apparently unconnected to earlier cases at the facility.

There are now 41 confirmed cases in Cumberland County, by far the most in Maine. Several other counties have reported cases: eight in York, three in Androscoggin, four in Kennebec, four in Lincoln, four in Oxford, two in Penobscot, and one in Sagadahoc. Saturday’s numbers included the first confirmed case in Sagadahoc County, Maine CDC’s director, Dr. Nirav Shah, said on Twitter.

Update on #COVID19 cases in Maine: there are 70 confirmed #coronavirus cases, which represents an increase of 14 cases since Friday. Of these, there is a first case in Sagadahoc County, as well.

— Nirav D. Shah (@nirav_uscdc) March 21, 2020

Three confirmed cases are listed as being of “unknown” geographic origin on the Maine CDC’s website.

The agency reported Saturday that two more patients have recovered from the illness, for a total of three.

Most patients – 64 percent – are 50 or older, according to Maine CDC statistics. Seventeen people, or 24 percent, are in their 60s.

The Maine CDC no longer is reporting “presumptive positive” test results – tests that haven’t been confirmed by testing from the U.S. CDC – because of a change in criteria by federal officials.

“As of today, all positive tests will be listed as confirmed,” Maine CDC spokesman Robert Long said in an email. “This reflects the U.S. CDC’s confidence in the Maine CDC lab’s ability to validate results for samples from outside labs.”

Negative test totals were not updated on Saturday, so the full scale of the 14-case rise in positive tests is unknown for now. On Friday, the number of negative tests was 2,264.

The Maine CDC doesn’t receive comprehensive information from outside labs on weekends, so it can’t post an accurate total of negative tests, Long said. That number will come Monday, he said.

Meanwhile, three residents of OceanView at Falmouth, including the one identified Saturday, are receiving care at Maine Medical Center in Portland, and three “are recuperating at their respective homes,” Linda Varrell, a spokeswoman for the community, said in a statement.

The six residents have all tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Citing the Maine CDC, Varrell said that though there isn’t evidence of community transmission in the new case, “due to statewide community spread it is no longer possible to definitively determine the source of exposure.”

OceanView has 421 residents and roughly 200 staff, according to Varrell. The retirement community is recommending that residents shelter in place to avoid further transmission of the virus.