AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - The Augusta Civic Center in Maine is slated to pull double duty this week as the host of the Maine Legislature and a coronavirus vaccination clinic.
The legislature has been using the civic center to facilitate easier social distancing. The legislature was slated to convene at the venue on Tuesday, when it was expected to take up the biennial budget proposal.
MaineGeneral Medical Center was also scheduled to hold a continuing vaccination clinic at the facility. Maine Senate President Troy Jackson of Allagash and Chuck Hays, president and chief executive officer of MaineGeneral Health, said they were confident that the civic center could accommodate the two events simultaneously.
“We’ve been working with legislative leadership and the state of Maine to ensure that both the legislative session and the community vaccination clinics can occur at the same time in the same building,” Hays said.
MaineGeneral said it has provided more than 16,300 coronavirus vaccinations, and 14,700 of those have been provided at the civic center.
In other pandemic news in Maine:
THE NUMBERS
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that it has reported more than 50,250 confirmed virus cases and 738 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Maine has risen over the past two weeks from 181.86 new cases per day on March 14 to 198.29 new cases per day on March 28. The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in Maine did not increase over the past two weeks, going from 2.71 deaths per day on March 14 to 1.00 deaths per day on March 28.
Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah said almost one in every three Maine people have received at least a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
He said it’s critical for Maine residents age 50 and older to get vaccinated soon. That age group became eligible last week. Everyone 16 and older becomes eligible on April 19.
“We all want to get on that road to being back to being Vacationland. But first we have to become vaccination land,” Shah said.
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SEA DOGS RETURN
Maine’s minor league baseball team announced Tuesday that it will welcome back fans at 28% capacity on May 4.
The Portland Sea Dogs said tickets for home games will go on sale on April 14. The 28% capacity limit will mean Hadlock Field can accommodate a little more than 2,000 fans per game, the team said.
“This reduction in attendance will help us achieve our first priority: ensuring the safety of our employees, fans, and players. The ballpark will be set up with seating pods ranging from sets of two to eight seats; each will be at least six feet from the nearest pod,” the team said in a statement.
The Sea Dogs canceled their entire season in 2020 because of the pandemic. Minor League Baseball was canceled all over the country last year.
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