Our community reached an unhappy milestone this week, as a cumulative total of 1,002 cases of Covid-19 have now been reported in the city since the pandemic began. Broken down by zip code, this represents 803 cases in Sanford and 199 in Springvale.
This is an increase of 99 Sanford cases and 23 Springvale cases over the previous week, for a total of 122 new cases in the city. This is data as of January 17.
As of January 20, York County registered 1,838 cases of the virus in the prior two weeks. There is no accurate way to measure the number of active cases, but as the virus has a two-week incubation period, this is one way to gauge an approximate number.
74,760 Maine residents have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine as of January 21. 17,248 have received the second dose as well.
The state is working to finish up Phase 1a of the vaccine plan, which includes nursing home residents, first responders, health care workers and Covid-19 response personnel. Phase 1b is about to begin, starting with people age 70 and over. Maine Health and other large health care providers have started scheduling appointments for those in this age group. Call (877) 780-7545 to schedule. You may have difficulty getting through. You may also receive a call from your doctor’s office to get you scheduled.
Phase 1b also includes people age 65-69, who will be vaccinated after the 70+ group; adults of all ages with high-risk medical conditions; and certain frontline (previously known as “essential”) workers. Which medical conditions and which workers will qualify for this phase is being determined. Phase 1b is expected to be completed by the end of April, but this depends on the supply of the vaccine received from the federal government.
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Image by Sumanley xulx from Pixabay (and Leonardo da Vinci).
