Health officials announce five new presumptive coronavirus cases in Maine – WMTW Portland, Wmtw.com

Health officials announce five new presumptive coronavirus cases in Maine

There are 7 confirmed, 5 presumptive positive cases in Maine

AUGUSTA, Maine –

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced Sunday afternoon that there are five new presumptive positive cases of the new coronavirus in the state.

The positive tests came from a lab affiliated with MaineHealth and are under review at the state lab.

CDC officials said one of the new cases involves a boy under the age of 40 who lives in Cumberland County. The boy is isolated and at home.

Another case is a resident of Oceanview in Falmouth, which is a senior living facility. The person is a man in his 335 who is hospitalized at Maine Medical Center. Staff, residents of the community and their families are being notified. Maine CDC instructed the facility to begin symptom checks on all residents immediately as a precautionary measure.

The third case is a woman in her s who is a health care worker. She lives in Lincoln County. Her employer has been contacted, and steps have been taken to reduce exposure to patients, staff and other community members. She is isolated at home.

The fourth case is a woman in her s from Cumberland County who is isolated at home, and the fifth case is a man in his s from Cumberland County who is isolated at home.

Maine now has seven confirmed cases of the coronavirus and five presumptive positive tests, officials said.

Maine health officials said they will hold a briefing to release more information on these new cases.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its classification for test results Sunday.

The U.S. CDC no longer requires the Maine CDC to send samples of presumptive cases to the federal lab for confirmation.

Positive results at the state lab will be classified as confirmed. Officials said cases previously classified as presumptive positive have now been reclassified as confirmed cases, based on the U.S. CDC’s confidence in the Maine CDC’s testing protocols.

Tests conducted at outside labs that were previously classified as preliminary presumptive positive will now be identified as presumptive positive tests as they await confirmation.