As of 4:30 p.m. Sunday, March 15, seven Maine residents have been confirmed positive and five others are presumed positive for the coronavirus, according to the state. Click here for the latest coronavirus news, which the BDN has made free for the public. You can support this mission by purchasing a digital subscription.

This story will be updated.





AUGUSTA, Maine — More than 100 Mainers are in quarantine or self-isolation due to the novel coronavirus as of Sunday night, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The number fluctuates hourly, Maine CDC spokesperson Robert Long said, in part because of status changes based on negative and positive test results. Numbers for how many people were in what category were not immediately available.

That’s important, because quarantine and self-isolation are two different things. Isolation refers to when ill individuals are separated from those who are healthy. Quarantine is when healthy individuals who may have been exposed to the virus stay away in order to see if they become ill.

As of Sunday afternoon, seven Mainers have tested positive for the coronavirus, known as COVID-19, while another five are presumed to have the virus. The rising numbers caused Gov. Janet Mills to declare a civil emergency for the next 30 days on Sunday as the state works to counteract the spread of the virus.

The most recent cases include a man in his 80s who lives at Oceanview at Falmouth, a senior living community, who is being treated at Maine Medical Center in Portland, and his wife, as well as a health care worker in her 40s from Lincoln County and a Cape Elizabeth Middle School student.

Those individuals are isolated at home, as were the state’s first two cases — a Navy reservist in her 50s from Androscoggin County and a Portland city employee, a Cumberland County man in his 50s.