Aroostook County saw a record number of new coronavirus cases in November and now finds itself with the highest rate of transmission in Maine as colder weather pushes more people indoors.

According to the latest data from the Maine Center for Disease Control, Aroostook County recorded 1,344 new cases of COVID-19 in November, with 18 people requiring hospitalization and nine people dying from the disease.

Statewide, there were 16,341 cases reported in November, along with 347 new hospitalizations and 160 deaths attributed to COVID-19. That averages to about 12 hospitalizations and more than five deaths per day in Maine.

Over the last three months­–September, October and November– 40 people in Aroostook County have been hospitalized with the disease and 29 people have died, according to Maine CDC data.  The number of accrued cases more than doubled in the County from 2,439 on Sept. 1 to 5,360 on Dec. 1.

Those figures only include the positive tests officially confirmed and not home tests that may not be recorded by a health agency

Even though Aroostook County has only 5% of the state’s population, it accounts for more than 10% of the active cases as of December 1. There are currently 601 known active cases in the County and 5,591 active cases across Maine.

On the positive side, the vaccination rate went up in Aroostook County over the past three months from 56.5% of the total population on September 1st to 63% on December 1. Statewide, 68% of all residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to Maine’s vaccination dashboard.

 

Answers to 25 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

Vaccinations for COVID-19 began being administered in the U.S. on Dec. 14, 2020. The quick rollout came a little more than a year after the virus was first identified in November 2019. The impressive speed with which vaccines were developed has also left a lot of people with a lot of questions. The questions range from the practical—how will I get vaccinated?—to the scientific—how do these vaccines even work?

Keep reading to discover answers to 25 common COVID-19 vaccine questions.

 

More From