LincolnHealth reported 273 new COVID-19 cases from 1,037 cases for the week of Jan. 17. With fewer tests and positive results than the previous week, the positivity rate still rose to a record 26.3%. Breakthrough cases, those who have been vaccinated and contracted the virus, rose to a record 164 patients or 60% of cases. A record 90 people or one-third of those under 18 contracted the virus.

A snapshot of Jan. 18 showed 54 positive cases with 33 or 61% of people having had the vaccine. Nine people, or 16.7%, had a booster shot. LincolnHealth’s John Martins said trends are showing boosters have been effective at providing additional protection against COVID-19.

“(But) our booster clinic continues to be underutilized,” Martins said. “We continue to urge people to get their booster.”

Hospital beds continue to fill up quickly and the LincolnHealth emergency department challenged by patients awaiting transfer to another facility, said Martins. However, there has been movement in the right direction over the past week across the MaineHealth system which also continues to keep track of needs and trends daily.

Martins said the most important message on testing is, patients can access their results through their MyChart, a portal where patients can view future appointments, among other features. MaineHealth and LincolnHealth patients can access or set up their MyChart by going to mychart.mainehealth.org

Said Martins, “This allows patients to get the results as quickly as possible.”