Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a respiratory illness caused by a new virus. Symptoms range from a mild cough to pneumonia
Four more Maine residents have died with the new coronavirus, bringing the state's death toll to 24, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday.
Three of the deaths came from Cumberland County -- two men and a woman in their 70s -- and the other was an 80-year-old man from Androscoggin County, said Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC.
There are now 770 confirmed cases of COVID-19 statewide, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, an increase of 36 in the last day. Out of these, 126 Mainers are hospitalized, including 22 in intensive care as of Wednesday, according to the CDC.
Piscataquis County is the only county in Maine with no confirmed cases of coronavirus.
The Maine CDC said it is investigating outbreaks at the Maine Veteran's Home facility in Scarborough, the Tall Pines Retirement and Health Care Community in Belfast and the Augusta Center for Health and Rehabilitation, with two deaths at each long-term care facility.
Shah said there have been 38 cases of coronavirus at the Maine Veteran's Home, 69 cases at the Augusta Center and 25 cases at Tall Pines facility.
"One of our central focuses right now is on long-term care," Shah said. "We know the residents who live there, the people who call those facilities their homes, are parents, are spouses, are siblings and are vulnerable to coronavirus."
Maine CDC and the state of Maine are "actively and aggressively" doing more research for cases at these facilities, Shah said.
Maine CDC said it is aware of a total of 5 new cases at The Cedars in Portland, three residents and two members of the staff.
As they discussed the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic at a news conference Wednesday, Maine Gov. Janet Mills and Shah addressed the large explosion at the Androscoggin Mill in Jay.
"There's a common saying that God will not give you more than you can carry. Without question, the burden for us is heavy. But Maine people can carry it and we will carry it," Mills said on the explosion during the briefing with journalists. "If ever there is a day that you should believe in miracles, today it is."
