The few cafes, stores and venues in Portland that still require masks say it's to protect their staff and put concerned customers at ease.

It is not immediately known whether the U.S. will make a similar move by Sept. 30.

Supplies are 'sufficient, but limited,' says Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah.

New York City will lift its private-sector COVID-19 vaccine mandate on Nov. 1 but will continue to require city employees to be vaccinated against the virus.

Seven Maine health care workers are taking their case to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, after a federal judge dismissed their case in August.

Meanwhile, residents of a city in China say they are experiencing hunger and shortages of medicine after over 40 days in a lockdown.

Some appointments were available this week and more are expected to open up next week as the state's supply grows.

The grant will provide more options for consumers as well as other livestock producers.

One outbreak is at Woodlands Senior Living of Waterville and involves 27 residents and four staff, according to the Maine CDC.

The relaxed guidelines, in accordance with the Maine CDC and DOE, no longer require districts to contact trace or notify families of children who may have been exposed to a student in the same classroom or on the same bus.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized extended expiration dates for some at-home COVID tests.

New booster shots have arrived and social distancing guidelines have eased but COVID-19 infections aren't going away anytime soon.

Maine is expected to receive 80,500 doses of new omicron-targeting booster shots within the next 2 weeks.

The original vaccines still offer strong protection against severe illness and death, especially among younger and healthier people, but those vaccines were designed to target the virus strain that circulated in early 2020.

The hope is that the modified boosters will blunt yet another winter surge. They should be available in Maine starting next week.

COVID-era learning loss threatens to add to longstanding inequities in education.

First lady Jill Biden had been isolating at her family's house in Delaware, since testing positive on Aug. 24.

The Secret Service said an investigation found that alleged conspirators submitted pandemic loan applications by using fake or stolen employment and personal information and used an online bank to conceal and move their criminal proceeds.

When it comes to both COVID and climate change, don’t condescend – suggest steps people can take that have a positive impact.

Service for medical and critical care appointments to end next month.

White House COVID-19 coordinator said, 'it’s going to be really important that people this fall and winter get the new shots...'

Town Manager Perry Ellsworth anticipates the office will reopen Thursday.

The rules build upon recently updated recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

Regional School Unit 9 Superintendent Chris Elkington said the state has issued guidance to handle COVID-19 outbreaks as they would another infectious disease, marking an end to COVID-specific standard operating procedures.

The CDC recommendations apply to everyone in the U.S., but the changes could be particularly important for schools, which resume classes this month in many parts of the country.

Bates tells students they need to test negative for the disease before coming to Lewiston but won't require tests once they're here.

Some 80,000 tourists have reportedly been stranded in Sanya.

George J. Mitchell School Principal Kim Taylor reported some kindergarten students entered school last year not knowing how to interact with other children, play or wait in line because they had had no social interaction during the pandemic.

The state has the nation's second-lowest infection rate, after Vermont.

The state reported an uptick in patients Wednesday, but continues to have one of the nation's lowest infection rates.

The president talks more about treatment than prevention, a sign of how the pandemic and his approach have evolved.

The number of patients who have the virus was unchanged Tuesday after dropping 17 percent the previous three days.

The state's patient count is down 17 percent over the past four days.

The University of Maine System is no longer requiring boosters, but masks must still be worn in class.

Maine and New England continue to have lower infection rates than much of the country.

The president tested positive for the virus on Thursday morning and reported has a sore throat, body aches and a runny nose.

Nineteen of the patients were in critical care Saturday, continuing a trend seen in Maine of fewer virus patients with severe illness.

Only 3 percent of patients with COVID in MaineHealth hospitals are in the ICU or on a ventilator.

President Biden’s first-day symptoms were mild in large part because he’s fully vaccinated and boosted, according to his physician.

The omicron subvariant BA.5 is the dominant variant in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The decline follows two weeks of steady increases in the state's COVID patient counts.

He is the second U.S. president to get the virus, underscoring the extent to which the virus has infiltrated American society.

The state reported a slight rise in the patient count Wednesday, but there were no patients on ventilators for a 2nd straight day.

There's a new option for COVID-19 shots from Novavax - a more traditional kind of vaccine.

Maine has seen a sustained rise in the number of inpatients over the past 10 days.

The number of patients has risen 17% in a week and reached a nearly 5-week high on Monday.

The number of people in hospitals statewide with the coronavirus increased to 131 on Sunday, two more than the day before.

The number of patients in hospitals statewide with the coronavirus rose to 129 on Saturday, the Maine CDC says.

The number of patients in intensive care dropped to 11 this week, the lowest number in nearly a year.