A DAILY DIGEST OF MAINE NEWS
Saturday, JANUARY 16, 2021 — ISSUE #73
EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to the Daily Monitor, an evening email newsletter that recaps the most relevant news and information from our editorial team and from our media partners around the state. The Daily Monitor is a product of The Maine Monitor and the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting.

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CORONAVIRUS IN MAINE
33,219 TOTAL CASES (An increase of 438 from Friday)
507 DEATHS (An increase of 30 from Friday)
438 NEW DAILY CASES (A decrease of 385 from Friday)
20,740 TOTAL ACTIVE CASES (An increase of 312 from Friday)
193 CURRENTLY IN HOSPITAL (Flat from Friday)
74,805 MAINERS VACCINATED (An increase of 4,577 from Friday)
TOP STORIES
Another 30 deaths were reported in Maine as health officials on Saturday reported 438 more coronavirus cases across the state.

Saturday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 33,219, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 32,781 on Friday.

Of those, 27,249 have been confirmed positive, while 5,970 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.

The 30 additional deaths reported today include one resident of Androscoggin County, four residents of Aroostook County, five residents of Cumberland County, two residents of Hancock County, one resident of Kennebec County, four residents of Oxford County, eight residents of Penobscot County, and five residents of York County, bringing the statewide death toll to 507. 
The chief of the Maine Capitol Police is apologizing for a series of social media posts that promote the same conspiracy theories that inspired Trump extremists to storm the U.S. Capitol last week.

Chief Russ Gauvin apologized for Facebook posts mocking the use of masks as a means of preventing the spread of COVID-19, questioning the validity of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory and sympathy for the views of a former Maine police officer who called for violence against Black Lives Matter protesters.

The posts, first reported by the Portland alternative magazine Mainer, have since been deleted, as has Gauvin’s account on the now-defunct Parler, a social media site shutdown after it was used to organize and document last week’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Gov. Janet Mills has activated the Maine National Guard as a precautionary measure in advance of potential demonstrations this weekend, her office announced Friday.

Mills, a Democrat, said the Maine National Guard is on standby to support law enforcement if needed. She said the Maine Department of Public Safety is preparing for the possibility of demonstrations in Maine’s capital city of Augusta in the wake of the breach of the U.S. Capitol by rioters on Jan. 6.

Mills said there was no evidence to suggest there will be any events in Augusta other than peaceful protests. She said activating the National Guard “allows them to be ready to act in the event their support is needed.”