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BLUE HILL, Maine — A patient has tested positive for the coronavirus at Northern Light Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, according to a hospital spokeswoman.





Suzanne Spruce, chief marketing and communications officer of Northern Light Health, confirmed the case, but declined to provide further details, citing patient confidentiality. Northern Light operates hospitals in Blue Hill and Ellsworth in Hancock County, along with eight others in Maine stretching from Portland to Presque Isle.

[Our COVID-19 tracker contains the most recent information on Maine cases by county]

The news of the confirmed case came as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Maine rose to 344 on Wednesday and the Maine CDC confirmed the first case of a Hancock County resident.

Mount Desert Island Hospital confirmed on March 19 that a patient at the Bar Harbor hospital had tested positive for COVID-19. A day later Maine CDC officials said a case detected in Hancock County involved a Penobscot County resident who had been tested by a Hancock County health care provider. That case was added to Penobscot County’s count. Citing patient confidentiality, Maine CDC officials declined to confirm whether this case was the same as the one reported by MDI Hospital.

The patient remained in a vehicle on the MDI hospital’s campus to be tested and never entered the facility, the hospital said at the time.

Spruce reiterated the message sent by all health care practitioners since coronavirus cases began appearing in the state: be safe.

“Stay home. Don’t touch your face. Wash your hands often. If you sneeze or cough do so in the sleeve of your elbow,” Spruce said in an email. “If you have to be out stay six apart from others — social distancing works.”