PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Even though many workplaces are empty in Maine, the state workers’ compensation system expects an increase in claims related to the coronavirus.
The system already is receiving claims from dozens of health care workers exposed to the virus at work, and more claims are expected in the coming weeks for injuries suffered at home by Mainers who are working remotely, the Portland Press Herald reported.
“Spare bedrooms, basements and kitchen counters are newly transformed into eight-hour work spaces that often are not appropriately engineered for comfort or safety,” said Tony Payne, spokesman for MEMIC, the Portland-based workers’ compensation insurer.
At least 208 Maine workers had filed notifications by Monday of workplace exposure to coronavirus since mid-February, when the system began coding reports to track COVID-19, said John Rohde, executive director of the Maine Workers’ Compensation Board.
Mainers who contract the virus on the job will be eligible for worker’s compensation benefits, while those who are quarantined and do not test positive will not, officials said.
___ THE NUMBERS
The Maine Center for Disease Control reported four more COVID-19 deaths and said three dozen more people tested positive for the virus.
The updated figures bring Maine’s death toll to 24, and the number of positive cases to 770, the Maine CDC said Wednesday.
All told, 166 people who’ve tested positive, or 21%, are health care workers, said Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC.
The new deaths were a resident of Androscoggin and three in Cumberland County, he said.
Two people have died at each of the three long-term care facilities with active outbreaks, The Commons at Tall Pines in Belfast; the Augusta Center for Health and Rehabilitation; and Maine Veterans Homes in Scarborough, Shah said. Five patients and staff also have tested positive at The Cedars retirement community in Portland, he said.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and those with other health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.
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HOARDING AND PRICE GOUGING
U.S. Attorney Halsey Frank is asking the Maine Medical Association and Maine Hospital Association to provide information to law enforcement about hoarding and price gouging of scarce medical supplies.
Law enforcement officials need help from medical professionals in identifying those who may have acquired crucial medical supplies in excess of what they could reasonably use, or for the purpose of charging exorbitant prices, Frank said in a statement.
“The U.S. attorney’s office is focused on investigating and prosecuting those who are trying to use the current pandemic to take advantage of Mainers,” Frank said.
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HOSPITAL CLINICAL TRIAL
Maine Medical Center, the state’s largest hospital, has joined a pair of clinical trials designed to examine the usefulness of the drug Remdesivir for treatment of moderate and severe cases of COVID-19.
The antiviral drug has not yet been demonstrated to be effective for the treatment of COVID-19. The trials at Maine Med were organized under the Maine Medical Center Research Institute.
“Unless clinical research is conducted to identify which treatments are effective, doctors, nurses and other front-line caregivers will continue to be limited in how they can care for these patients,” said Dr. David Seder, the trials’ principal investigator.
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