Gov. Mills Addresses When To Reopen Maine At Press Briefing
Governor Janet Mills joined Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah for today's coronavirus briefing where she addressed a question about Maine's stay healthy at home order.
Emily Tablock of WABI asked Governor Mills if Maine will begin a phased reopening when the stay healthy at home order is set to end on April 30 or if she will be extending the order.
Governor Mills responded by saying, "We'll be monitoring things day by day." That monitoring includes keeping track of the epidemiological data, activity data, travel data and hospitalizations. She went on to say that there is no plan to either renew the stay at home order or let it expire on April 30.
Maine CDC director Dr. Nirav Shah announced that the total number of reported cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is now at 937 an increase of 30 new cases since Wednesday. 485 people recovered, an increase of 30. The total number of active cases is 408, and decrease of 5, and 5 new deaths were reported, bringing the total number to 44. 150 patients have had to be hospitalized at some point. 42 are currently hospitalized with 18 of those are in critical care and 11 patients on ventilators.
Here's a breakdown of the numbers by county from the Maine CDC.
And here's another handy graphic that was put together by the University of Maine Presque Isle GIS Lab that show just about every number and stat you might be interested in, presented in a easy to understand format.
During Monday's briefing, Dr. Shah urged everyone to continue with social and physical distancing measures because, "We are still very much in the middle of things."
On April 14, Mills extended the civil state of emergency for Maine to May 15 allowing the state to continue to receive federal aid and for her to take executive action such as extending the stay at home order if it is deemed necessary. Maine's stay at home order remains in effect until April 30, but is subject to review and extension if necessary. Find out what that means for you by clicking or tapping here.
If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, including a runny nose, sore throat, dry cough, fever and in severe cases, difficulty breathing, the Maine CDC says you should call your doctor before going in so that they can prepare for your arrival. The Maine CDC continues to update with new information daily. Keep checking on our mobile app or website to get the latest.