March 25 evening update: Latest on the coronavirus and Maine

March 25 evening update: Latest on the coronavirus and Maine

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Here’s a roundup of today’s COVID-19 news in Maine and New England, as of 6 p.m. Read all of our coronavirus coverage here.

— The number of confirmed cases in the state increased to 142, up from 118 on Tuesday.

— The coronavirus has hit the hardest in Cumberland County, where 87 cases have been reported, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Other cases have been detected in Androscoggin (4), Kennebec (5), Knox (1), Lincoln (5), Oxford (6), Penobscot (4), Sagadahoc (4), Waldo (1) and York (23) counties.

— Updated numbers on how many people have been hospitalized due to the coronavirus were not available on Wednesday, but seven people have recovered from the virus.

— The number of Mainers that have been tested for COVID-19 increased to 3,177. This is up from 3014 on Monday.

— We’re tracking the number of coronavirus cases in the state. Check out the latest here.

— Gov. Janet Mills is making it easier for out-of-state physicians to practice medicine in Maine.

— Here’s what Maine is doing about a shortage of ventilators amid the coronavirus fight.

— Two Colby College students have tested positive for the new coronavirus, and a fourth case of the coronavirus has been confirmed among the Bowdoin College community.

— Maine’s public university system is estimating a $20 million short-term loss — or 3.6 percent of its budget for the 2019-20 academic year — after all seven universities transitioned to remote learning and asked most students to leave campus to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

— With spring break over, just 291 students across the University of Maine System are still living in university residence halls.

— The Department of Health and Human Services closed its office in Maine’s second-largest city after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus, and the director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention warned that a rapid increase in cases isn’t over.

— Maine mental health workers brace for spike in clients whose lives “may never be the same.”

— Take a look inside Maine’s largest prison, where inmates watch coronavirus inch closer with a sense of “pending doom.”

— Twenty inmates have been released from the Knox County Jail to prevent the potential spread of the coronavirus.

— Some Mainers have had trouble signing up for unemployment as the coronavirus stresses system.

— Traffic on the Maine Turnpike has fallen drastically — by about half — in recent days.

— The National Park Service announced major closures throughout Acadia National Park to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

— Bangor Savings Bank announced it’s temporarily closing five of its 57 branches and limiting the hours at others as part of its efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

— Health experts say social distancing should continue for weeks, but just how long is unclear.

— As the pandemic spreads through the U.S., those living in rural areas are increasingly threatened.

— This is how Maine’s homesteaders were — and weren’t — prepared for the coronavirus.

— Here’s what one teacher learned about teaching remotely during a pandemic.

— Online predators could lurk during the coronavirus crisis, the FBI said. Here are tips to protect kids.

— Vermont Gov. Phil Scott ordered in-person operations of nonessential businesses to close and Vermonters to stay home to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus as the number of deaths in the state rose to eight and confirmed cases increased to 123.

— The number of people in Massachusetts who have died from COVID-19 increased to 15 on Tuesday.

— James Taylor and his wife, Kim, have donated $1 million to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston to support the fight against the spread of the coronavirus.

— A minor league player for the Boston Red Sox has tested positive for the coronavirus.

— Here’s a guide to Congress’ $2 trillion stimulus and why economists say it may not be enough.

— What questions are on your mind about COVID-19? We’ll do our best to answer

— The Maine CDC set up a coronavirus hotline. The hotline is available by calling 211 or 866-811-5695. It can also be reached by texting your zip code to 207-898-211 or emailing [email protected].

— Throughout the rest of New England, Massachusetts has 1,838 confirmed cases and 15 deaths, Connecticut has 875 cases and 19 deaths, Vermont has 123 confirmed cases and eight deaths, New Hampshire has 137 cases and one death, and Rhode Island has 132 confirmed cases.

— Nationwide, there are 63,744 cases and 897 deaths from the coronavirus as of Saturday evening, according to The New York Times.