Social Distancing in Schools Reduced & Maine Adds 1 COVID Death

According to the Maine CDC's Friday update, the cumulative number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Maine is now at 48,070 an increase of 238 since Thursday. 37,169 of those cases are confirmed while 10,901 are deemed probable.

There was 1 new death reported for individuals with COVID-19 raising the total number of deaths to 728. 1,618 patients have had to be hospitalized at some point. 77 are currently hospitalized with 22 in intensive care and 9 on a ventilator.

As of data from yesterday, March 18th, 562,483 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to Mainers, with 352,196 having had one dose and 210,287 having had both doses. 26.20% of the population have received the first dose and 15.64% have received both.

Schools will be implementing a big change due to new guidelines for social distancing being updated by the Center for Disease Control. Until now students have had to abide by 6 feet of social distancing. It has now been reduced to three feet for schools where masks are universally required and transmission is not high according to WGME. The six feet requirement is still in place between adults and students, in common areas, and in situations where masks cannot be worn.

If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, including a runny nose, sore throat, dry cough, fever, and in severe cases, difficulty breathing, the Maine CDC says you should call your doctor before going in so that they can prepare for your arrival. The Maine CDC continues to update with new information daily. Keep checking on our mobile app or website to get the latest.

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LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.