York County coronavirus risk 'yellow' again; Maine musters more help for renters
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine will dedicate more than $6 million to help residents who can't pay their rents due to the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Janet Mills said Friday.
The use of federal coronavirus relief funds will extend Maine Housing's COVID-19 Rental Relief Program through December, said Mills, a Democrat. She said states around the country, including Maine, need Congress to approve more relief soon.
“In the meantime, I will do all I can to keep people secure in their homes this holiday season,” Mills said.
The state has dedicated more than $28 million in coronavirus relief funds to the rental help program since April.
The announcement came as the recovery of jobs in the state appeared to slow. Unemployment in Maine fell to 5.4% in October, the Maine Department of Labor said Friday. That was a decline of less than a percentage point from September's rate.
York County 'yellow' again
The Mills administration also announced Friday another county has joined the intermediate category in the state's color-coded school safety designation system.
York County joined Androscoggin, Franklin, Somerset and Washington counties in the “yellow” category. Knox County has joined the lowest risk category, green, which includes every other county in the state.
The state recommends school districts in counties designated yellow consider new precautions and possibly hybrid instruction models to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
Latest numbers
The state reported two more deaths attributed to COVID-19, pushing its total to 173. There were 224 additional cases reported Friday and Maine has seen more than 9,900 to date.
The latest average positivity rate in Maine is 2.13%. State health departments are calculating positivity rate differently across the country, but for Maine, the Associated Press calculates the rate by dividing new cases by test specimens using data from The COVID Tracking Project.
The seven-day rolling average of the positivity rate in Maine has risen over the past two weeks from 1.42% on Nov. 5 to 2.13% on Nov. 19.
Health campaign
Maine is renewing its “Keep Maine Healthy” campaign that seeks to encourage precautions about the coronavirus pandemic.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services launched the campaign in June. The administration of Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said Thursday it would use $100,000 in Coronavirus Relief Funds to extend the campaign into January.
The campaign uses social media, digital, television and streaming media advertising, the governor’s office said. It will remind residents of the importance of actions such as social distancing and wearing face coverings, DHHS Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew said.
The DHHS also announced 52 more Walgreens pharmacies will begin offering free drive-through COVID-19 testing on Friday. That brings the total number to 65 in Maine.