There have now been 2,810 cases across all of Maine’s counties since the outbreak began here in March, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 2,793 on Sunday.
The latest death was a woman in her 40s from Androscoggin County, bringing the statewide death toll to 101. It marked the first new death Maine has seen since last Tuesday.
Here’s a roundup of the latest news about the coronavirus and its impact in Maine.
— “Restaurants in Cumberland, York and Androscoggin counties will be allowed to resume dine-in service on Wednesday, joining those in the rest of Maine that have been allowed to reopen on a limited basis.” — Jessica Piper, BDN
— “While the coronavirus pandemic has dealt a major blow to the U.S. economy, the largest Maine-based bank has so far managed to stay ahead of the downturn that arrived just as it was finishing a banner fiscal year. On March 31, Bangor Savings Bank ended the 2019-2020 fiscal year with $4.86 billion in assets, which was up a record-breaking 9.38 percent from the year before, the company announced on Monday afternoon.” — Charles Eichacker, BDN
— “From cops to lifeguards, all emergency responders in four York County municipalities will be eligible to be tested for COVID-19 antibodies starting Tuesday to see if they have had the virus and learn more about how it spreads.” — Nick Sambides Jr. BDN
— “Bates College is considering a plan for reopening that would involve splitting semesters, masks and ‘a lot of hand sanitizer.’ College President Clayton Spencer told alumni the college aims to open for students in early September and to send them home before Thanksgiving. They’ll take finals remotely.” — The Associated Press
— “Rather than simply hope that concerts and other performing arts events will be able to return this year if restrictions on large gatherings are lifted, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra is opting instead to start its next season in January 2021. The orchestra will kick off its 125th season on Jan. 31, 2021, at the Collins Center for the Arts in Orono, rather than the usual start date of late September or early October. The orchestra will perform the five concerts in the season over the course of about four months. The season will feature a few contemporary works alongside a number of audience favorites.” — Emily Burnham, BDN
— “Much of the typical pomp and circumstance of a high school graduation was on display Sunday at Bangor High School, with students wearing gaps and gowns, and balloons and streamers fluttering in the breeze. But the ceremony itself was far from typical. It was the school’s first drive-thru graduation ceremony — a new type of event in which graduating seniors line up in cars and hop out one at a time to get their diplomas from school officials. Many Maine high schools have adopted such ceremonies this year due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and a ban by Gov. Janet Mills on gatherings of more than 50 people.” — Bill Trotter, BDN
— “U.S. regulators on Monday revoked emergency authorization for malaria drugs promoted by President Donald Trump for treating COVID-19 amid growing evidence they don’t work and could cause serious side effects.” — Matthe Perrone, The Associated Press
— “There was no uniformity when it came to stipends paid to sports coaches by Maine high schools this spring. … Coaches in some districts received their full stipends, others were paid part of their promised extra pay and others didn’t get a cent.” — Larry Mahoney, BDN
— “Fitness junkies locked out of gyms, commuters fearful of public transit and families going stir crazy inside their homes during the coronavirus pandemic have created a boom in bicycle sales unseen in decades.” — Patrick Whittle and Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press
— As of Monday evening, the coronavirus has sickened 2,110,791 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 116,090 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.
— Elsewhere in New England, there have been 7,647 coronavirus deaths in Massachusetts, 4,204 in Connecticut, 851 in Rhode Island, 320 in New Hampshire and 55 in Vermont.
