LincolnHealth reported 46 new COVID-19 cases from 475 tests for the week of May 2. Testing was up by 49 and cases were down by 11 marking a continuing downward trend for cases and positivity rates. The 9.7% positivity rate was down exactly 3% from the previous week.

Breakthrough cases, those who contracted COVID-19 after receiving a vaccine, were also down from the previous week’s 84% to 70%. Cases for those under 18 remain in the single digits for the eighth week in a row.

LincolnHealth’s John Martins said the downward trends and stable numbers are an encouraging sign, but Lincoln County residents and visitors should continue to be careful with COVID-19 strains still abound.

“As you've probably seen, Maine's transmission rate remains among the highest in the nation and hospitalization rates have crept upward,” said Martins.

LincolnHealth continues to offer walk-in COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots for those who need them. Appointments are not necessary, and patients do not need to be in the Lincoln County Partners system to get a vaccine or booster, but they can be made by visiting vaccine.mainehealth.org

Martins said LincolnHealth celebrated a host of caregiver recognition weeks throughout the May 9 week. Nurses Week – which celebrates all nurses as well as the mother of modern-day nursing, Florence Nightingale – ran through May 12. It was also hospital week, which MaineHealth has renamed Care Team Appreciation Week, and Skilled Nursing Care Week which honors Registered Nurses working in rehabilitation services.

Said Martins, “We salute all of our team members who continue to do whatever is needed in a way that centers around our patients and residents.”