The number of people in Maine hospitals with COVID-19 continued to decline on Sunday, and there were no new deaths from the virus and few new cases, the state reported.

There were 168 people hospitalized statewide with the coronavirus, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, down five from Saturday. Of the patients in hospitals on Sunday, 40 were in critical care units and 13 on ventilators.

One month ago, at the height of the omicron surge, there were 400 people hospitalized statewide with COVID-19.

The state reported just 23 new cases Sunday, bringing the total number of cases since the pandemic began to 226,143,Maine’s death toll from the virus stands at 2,064.

In January, adults who were unvaccinated and became infected were hospitalized at 16 times the rate of those who were fully vaccinated, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unvaccinated adolescents ages 12-17 who contracted the virus were hospitalized eight times more frequently than those who were fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile the number of Mainers who are fully vaccinated continues to grow.

As of Saturday, 73.47 percent of all Mainers were fully vaccinated, including those younger than 5 who are not eligible be vaccinated.

Despite that, the U.S. CDC says that 13 of Maine’s 16 counties are at high risk of  virus transmission, and that people there should wear well-fitting masks when in indoor public spaces, including K-12 schools. The three counties that meet the CDC criteria for not wearing masks indoors are Kennebec, Somerset and Waldo.

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