As infections mount, more than 80 school districts or charter networks have closed or delayed in-person classes for at least 1 entire school in more than a dozen states.
Health
Maine could see a jump in new COVID-19 cases within days
Maine CDC’s director says. ‘The numbers are high and they are going up’ as the agency reviews 1,700 positive results, largely from unvaccinated people.
Pfizer approval makes more Maine employers likely to consider vaccine mandates
But there is opposition to mandates in some quarters, and businesses must try to balance workplace safety against employees’ morale, labor shortages and other challenges.
UMaine System reports 66% vaccination rate as fall semester nears
Staff and students who did not register their vaccination status as of 5 p.m. Friday are being asked to undergo COVID-19 testing and quarantine when they arrive.
Maine EMS board seeks to ease vaccine mandate, fearing needed workers will ‘walk away’
Dozens spoke Monday during an online meeting of the Maine Board of Emergency Medical Services, most opposing the requirement set this month by Gov. Janet Mills.
Suicide attempts by children have spiked during the pandemic, especially among girls
And health care providers say they are seeing more children under the age of 10 thinking about or attempting suicide.
Maine kindergarten vaccination rate rises
Fewer parents sought religious and philosophical exemptions last year, and a new law that takes effect this year that bans all but medical exemptions.
A longtime nurse in Lewiston vows to quit her job rather than get the shot
Defying expert advice, Annette Roy said she won’t get vaccinated as ordered because it is too dangerous to inject “a poison into my arm.”
After brain injury, playwright Callie Kimball put down her pen to focus on healing
Kimball has a play finishing a run in Monmouth and another – likely her last – premiering at Portland Stage in September.
Abbott Laboratories disputes report that it told Maine workers to toss millions of COVID-19 tests
The company, which has plants in Westbrook and Scarborough, reportedly disposed of rapid antigen tests as cases declined and just before the delta variant created a huge new need for them.