Somerville Maine COVID-19 Somerville's Response to COVID-19 Our goal in Somerville is to do our very best to support and keep everyone safe during this COVID-19 pandemic. We want you to have all the information you need because by understanding what COVID-19 is, how it is spread, and what you can can do to prevent it from spreading, we can each do our part to keep our family, friends, and neighbors safe. Some of the steps already taken toward keeping COVID-19 away from our community include changes made to the way we conduct business at our Town Office. These changes incorporate CDC recommended COVID-19 prevention measures including keeping appropriate distance between staff and those conducting business, wearing and requiring masks, frequent sanitizing of surfaces and tools. Changes have also been made toward utilizing COVID-19 prevention measures during Town Meetings and during election activities. We made and distributed informational brochures to Somerville businesses (there are more than you think!) These brochures provide guidance for understanding requirements of the State of Maine guidelines on how to operate while keeping Maine residents and visitors as safe as possible from COVID-19. We have provided updates to residents and COVID-19 information via USPS mailings. Also, your Local Health Officer is always available to answer question or address concerns that you may have. We are providing information we hope you can use via links on this newly re-designed website. And if you have suggestions to make it better - please contact our Town Clerk. Somerville was awarded financial assistance in this endeavor through a grant from the State of Maine’s Keep Maine Healthy 2020 Municipal COVID-19 Awareness Campaign. That funding has covered most of the cost of the steps we’ve taken to protect townspeople and arm businesses with information to comply with State guidelines. UPDATE: The Maine Keep ME Healthy program was extended to December 11th, but with no further funding. We filed a revised budget to realign how we can spend the balance. That includes 2 more informational mailings, protective equipment/supplies, including supplies to create 240 PPE kits for townspeople plus more masks and hand sanitizer for refills. Contact our LHO or stop by during office hours to get your masks and hand sanitizer! WHERE TO GET VACCINATED: If you are within the current age group or population segment to get vaccinated here is where you can find a location and make an appointment. Funding Provided by the State of Maine’s Keep ME Healthy Program Resources Town Office COVID-19 Guidelines COVID-19 Resident Resources COVID-19 Business Resources February 24th, 2021: The U.S. has 4% of the world's population but 20% of the COVID-19 deaths which exceeded 503,000 today. In Maine, numbers are down some but stuck there and vaccinations will take many months. More infectious mutations are spreading in some states already. Let's keep masks on and use hand sanitizer, and get vaccinated when you are eligible. If you need masks or sanitizer please contact the Town Office. February 21st, 2021: The U.S. is nearing an unfathomable toll — the loss of half a million people to the coronavirus, more than any other country in the pandemic. More Americans have perished from Covid-19 than on the battlefields of World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War combined. --New York Times January 19th, 2021: Today, the number who died of COVID-19 in the U.S. surpassed 400,000 people. Tonight for the first time in a year of COVID-19 deaths, those lives lost were memorialized and the loss to those who knew them was acknowledged in our nation's capital. As the nation wakes up to the terrible tragedy of so many unnecessary deaths, the least we can do is care enough to keep each other safe. Wear a mask over your nose and mouth whenever in public or the presence of people not in your household. Wash your hands or sanitize. It's really not too much to ask. December 19th: The numbers are out for Friday the 18th of December. In the last 20 days 101 Maine people have died of COVID-19. That's 100 families who lost someone they love, thousands of people who have lost a relative, thousands who have lost a friend. Please contact Teresa, our Local Health Officer, or ask at the Town Office on Monday or Wednesday, to get a free PPE kit of masks and hand sanitizer. Let's keep those numbers down everywhere we can make a difference - in our own community and wherever we have to visit for necessities. December 17th: Wednesdays new daily case numbers for Maine are yet another record increase of 619. If you haven't taken it seriously yet, it's time to rethink how badly you want to contribute to the Maine death toll, which grew to 276 yesterday. Lincoln County cases rose to 213. Personally, 'the plague of 2020' is not on my list of gifts to give or receive. If you love your family, and really care about friends and neighbors, wearing a mask is not too much to ask. December 16th: Yesterday the U.S. reached 304,000 COVID-19 deaths, an increase of 2957 dead in one day, and 16.8 million people infected, an increase of 202,000 yesterday. December 10th: Yesterday a grim national daily record was set - 3054 people died yesterday from COVID-19. That's more than the 2977 who died in the 9/11 attacks. And in Maine our daily infected count continues a jerky upward trend. The battle against COVID-19 is one we can fight today by wearing masks properly, keeping distance, and washing/disinfecting hands. We went to war over 9/11. For COVID-19 no one has to face bullets. Our duty instead is to wear masks and wash. Also reported by the U.S. CDC as of noon December 9th - the national COVID-19 death toll reached 285,351. If unchecked this trend will surpass 350,000 dead by year end. November 26th: Things to be thankful for - In recent days the Maine and Lincoln County case increases are looking linear instead of exponential. In other words we are flattening the curve. By continuing mask wearing, avoiding gatherings and other risks of spread, many people will be saved from illness and death. We can do this! November 19th: Yesterday's Lincoln County increase continues an exponential growth pattern. The one day increase of 10 cases in LC brings our 7-day average increase to 5.0 new cases per day. The state numbers are still rising (not good), but not quite as steeply as they were, showing that people observing safe practices can make a difference. We need everyone to do so. The wild fluctuation from day to day make a polynomial fit trend line misleading, so I've changed to a 7 day average as the trend line. November 16th: "The pot is starting to boil and the bubbles are coming up everywhere" November 14th: Nationally the coronavirus deaths are now at 249,998 people. In less than 9 months. That is more than died in the American Revolutionary War, Korean War, Vietnam War, and World War I combined. Today NBC News notes US coronavirus new cases per day in November: Nov. 1: 76,771 Nov. 2: 86,589 Nov. 3: 91,910 Nov. 4: 104,296 Nov. 5: 121,289 Nov. 6: 126,731 Nov. 7: 125,100 Nov. 8: 109,177 Nov. 9: 133,819 Nov. 10: 131,990 Nov. 11: 148,302 Nov. 12: 161,651 Nov. 13: 176,309 November 12th: Maine has a new record case increase of 243. Nationally, more than 153,000 new cases were reported, with 66,000 people hospitalized and more than 242,000 have died. November 7th: The NY Times reports "More than 132,700 new cases were announced across the United States on Friday. The country also reported more than 1,000 deaths for the fourth straight day." November 5th: Maine's daily new cases have set a new record 3 days in a row - 127 on Monday, 151 on Tuesday, 183 on Wednesday. Avoid risk of spread as much as you can. We have to flatten this curve! Governor Mills has ordered stricter requirements due to the sharp rise in new cases. The biggest takeaway is that in Maine face coverings are now required in all public places — pretty much anywhere people might interact with other people — regardless of physical distance from other people. Here's Executive Order 16 with details: An Order to Revise Indoor Gathering Limits, Strengthen Face Covering Requirements and Delegate Certain Authority (PDF) - 11/4/2020 November 4th: NBC News reports over 235 thousand deaths nationally so far. Office Hours: Monday & Wednesday 9:00AM-6:00PM Closed for Lunch from 1:00-1:30 72 Sand Hill Road Somerville, Maine 04348 Phone: 207-549-3828 Fax: 207-549-4753 This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic. 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