| Click here for the latest coronavirus news, which the BDN has made free for the public. You can support our critical reporting on the coronavirus by purchasing a digital subscription or donating directly to the newsroom. There have now been 1,408 confirmed and likely coronavirus cases across all of Maine’s counties, according to Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman Robert Long. That’s up from 1,374 on Friday. The death toll now states at 64. [Our COVID-19 tracker contains the most recent information on Maine cases by county] So far, 198 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, 43 people are currently hospitalized, with 22 in critical care and 10 on ventilators, according to the Maine CDC. Another 857 people have fully recovered from the coronavirus, meaning there are 487 active and likely cases in the state. That’s up from 475 on Friday. Here’s the latest on the coronavirus and its impact on Maine. — Cool temperatures, a northwest breeze and intermittent mixed precipitation — along with a prediction of 3 to 6 inches of new snow to come overnight — weren’t the optimal ingredients for big ice cream sales Friday afternoon. Yet a steady stream of customers made their way to opening day of the new season at Butterfield’s Ice Cream in Dover-Foxcroft for a hearty scoop of the iconic parlor’s handmade, hard-serve ice cream. — A federal judge on Saturday ruled that Gov. Janet Mills’ prohibition on in-person worship services does not violate the First Amendment. Calvary Chapel in Orrington and its pastor, Ken Graves, sued the governor in U.S. District Court in Bangor. The lawsuit alleged that Mills’ order, designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus, violated the freedom of religion and assembly clauses of the First Amendment and other laws designed to protect houses of worship. — Maine restaurateurs are facing yet another difficult business decision during the novel coronavirus pandemic: whether or not to reopen under a new plan that allows dine-in service in most counties starting May 18, two weeks ahead of the original plan and in time for the Memorial Day holiday. —With tentative promises of a slow re-opening to Maine’s economy, businesses which rely on summer tourism must find creative ways to keep things running, despite mounting uncertainty of what’s to come. — “There’s a difference between making the best of a bad situation and the delusion that technology can deliver us from bad situations. I’m in a bad situation now. I can’t visit my COVID-19-positive mom in her nursing home. My wife can’t visit her mom. I can’t be with my colleagues and friends,” writes opinion guest columnist Paul Tormey of Orrington. — Here are six day trips you can take all over the state that will allow you to scratch that wandering itch, and still be safe and responsible while doing so. — The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating three complaints about safety and health standards related to barber shops in Maine during the pandemic. — What Maine’s farmers markets are doing to keep shoppers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. — Watch: Janet Mills shares changes for rural businesses — As of early Sunday morning, the coronavirus has sickened 1,309,541 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 78,794 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine. —Elsewhere in New England, there have been 4,840 coronavirus deaths in Massachusetts, 2,932 in Connecticut, 418 in Rhode Island, 131 in New Hampshire and 54 in Vermont.
| 