Some Mainers have been asking for several weeks now for the Maine CDC to share data on positive COVID-19 cases by town. As of Wednesday, those numbers are now available.

Up until now, the Maine CDC only shared positive coronavirus cases by county, but many feel that that data doesn't provide enough information. With the number of positive cases town-by-town, you get a bigger picture.

For example, Portland is in Cumberland County and currently has had 456 probable and confirmed cases of COVID-19. Meanwhile, the town of Harrison 40 miles away, has only had 1-5 probable cases. It too is in Cumberland County.

The argument that some have is that in a town like Harrison where confirmed cases are negligible, they can't open businesses like they can just one town over in Norway, which is in Oxford County and also had 1-5 probable cases. So towns in these rural areas are having to abide by rules based on data coming from the highest populated area 40 miles away.

There are many arguments for and against ordering restrictions by county, and thus far there has been no move to allow openings on a town-by-town basis by the Mills Administration. This new data is what these rural towns in counties where restrictions still exist that other counties don't have, may end up using to plead their case for reopening.

Here's the Maine CDC's interactive map where you can find out how many confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 there are in your town. I've found it works best on a computer rather than a smartphone, but it is doable. You just may have to fidget around with it.

You can type your town in the box and the data should pop up, or you can click or tap on the map to find the data your looking for if you know your Maine geography well enough.

 

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