UMaine system reports seven COVID-19 cases as of Aug. 26

Wed, 08/26/2020 - 4:00pm

    ORONO — The University of Maine system is reporting that as of Aug. 26, there are seven identified cases of COVID-19, five at UMaine in Orono, including four at a fraternity house and one at an off-campus resident.

    There is one reported at the University of Maine in Fort Kent, and one at the University of Maine Law School in Portland.

    There are no known cases at any of the other University of Maine System campuses, according to a news release issued Aug. 26.

    Dashboard Timing Note:  Over a 1,000 asymptomatic tests were conducted on Monday, August 23, across the University of Maine System.  Many of those results are being received by the universities today and students are being released from quarantine arrival requirements. 

    The asymptomatic dashboard is updated once daily and results learned about today will be viewable tomorrow.  

    As part of its safe returning planning the University of Maine System universities have set aside or identified  542 safe spaces that can be used to quarantine or isolate students.  At present only one space is being used for quarantine.

    Message from UMFK President Deb Hedeen, 8/26/20

    I want to inform you of a case of COVID in the UMFK community.  We are committed to transparency and want to remind you that there will be a daily update of active COVID cases involving Maine CDC isolation posted to the University of Maine System's Together for Maine website. The UMFK case will appear in the update early this afternoon.

    We have confirmed that a student received a positive test for COVID-19 in a venue not associated with the University's asymptomatic screening strategy. The student is in isolation and working with Maine CDC. We are pleased to report that the student is asymptomatic and doing well.

    We will talk more about this tomorrow at our Town Hall, but now that we are monitoring the situation and the student is taking their isolation very seriously.

    Be safe and don’t forget to ROAR!