A DAILY DIGEST OF MAINE NEWS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021 — ISSUE #69
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
30,326 TOTAL CASES (An increase of 715 from Monday)
449 DEATHS (An increase of 11 from Monday)
715 NEW DAILY CASES (An increase of 402 from Monday)
18,109 TOTAL ACTIVE CASES (An increase of 688 from Monday)
203 CURRENTLY IN HOSPITAL (An increase of 8 from Monday)
58,083 MAINERS VACCINATED (An increase of 2,308 from Monday)
TOP STORIES
Sen. Angus King joined the growing chorus of lawmakers calling for President Donald Trump’s impeachment on Tuesday, saying last Wednesday’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol showed he was a “danger to the Republic.”

King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, joins U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, both Democrats, as members of Maine’s delegation who have called for Trump’s impeachment. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, has declined to weigh in on the president’s removal, citing her potential role as a juror in a Senate trial.

In a Tuesday statement, King said Trump’s speech to protestors ahead of the riots “incited a frenzied crowd” that later went on to invade the Capitol, resulting in several deaths including a police officer. He also pointed to comments the president made Tuesday morning, in which he said he was not responsible for the events.

“It is more clear than ever that President Trump poses a danger to the Republic, and that if he is allowed to remain in office for the next eight days, this intemperate and impulsive person could use his powers in ways that further jeopardize our national security and the safety of the American people,” King said.
Another 11 Mainers have died as health officials on Tuesday reported 715 more coronavirus cases across the state.

Tuesday’s report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 30,326, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 29,611 on Monday. Of those, 25,163 have been confirmed positive, while 5,163 were classified as “probable cases,” the Maine CDC reported.

An Androscoggin County resident, four Cumberland County residents, an Oxford County resident, three Penobscot County residents, a Somerset County resident and a York County resident have succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide toll to 449.

Tuesday’s report marked a sharp upturn in new cases after an early-week slump when they fell to 279 on Sunday and 313 on Monday, among the fewest new cases Maine has seen in recent weeks. It’s the fourth highest single-day increase recorded so far; the record high is 782 seen last Friday.

So far, 1,189 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. Of those, 203 people are currently hospitalized, with 68 in critical care and 27 on ventilators.
The Maine Center for Disease Control requisitioned nearly 2,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine from Walgreens on Monday over concerns that the pharmacy chain was not using them quickly enough to protect older Mainers in long-term care facilities.

Walgreens and CVS are two pharmacy chains that have been tapped by the federal government to play a central role in inoculating residents and staff at long-term care facilities in Maine, and they’ve administered at least 4,000 doses in Maine so far.

The state CDC tracks how many doses the pharmacies receive and administer, and the agency’s director Dr. Nirav Shah said Monday that his staff was concerned that Walgreens had excess doses and no immediate plan to use them.

“And one of those two chains indicated that they did in fact have doses on hand and they could not tell us when … they could put them into arms. That didn’t work for me,” Shah said.

Shah then redirected those doses to hospitals in the Lewiston area — Central Maine Medical Center and St. Mary’s. He says both hospitals are able to use the doses to vaccinate health care workers.