The past week saw a surge of cases in York County linked to an outbreak at the county jail and at a church in Sanford.
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday reported 15 cases of the novel coronavirus, and no new deaths, to close a week that saw a surge in cases in York County. Maine’s cumulative cases rose to 4,682. Of those,4,210 have been confirmed by testing and 472 are considered probable cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. One hundred thirty-four people have died with COVID-19 in Maine. Subtracting the number of people who have recovered – 4,049 – and died, there were 499 active cases on Sunday. A recent surge in COVID-19 cases in York County threatens to mar Maine’s accomplishment of safely hosting an entire summer tourist season during the pandemic. Driven by an outbreak at the York County Jail and at a Sanford church, among other places, York County’s active case count surpassed Cumberland County’s for the first time on Aug.28. On Thursday last week, York County had 7.4 cases per 10,000 residents, compared to Cumberland’s 6 and Androscoggin’s 5. State education officials last week downgraded York County’s readiness status for in-person school, moving it from green to yellow. All other counties in Maine are designated green.
