Millinocket, Maine, area wedding now connected to 161 coronavirus cases

The number of coronavirus cases believed to be connected to an Aug. 7 wedding in the Millinocket area has risen by three to 161, the director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

Dr. Nirav D. Shah, director of the center, said in a media briefing all three cases were found among residents and staff at the Maplecrest Rehabilitation and Living Center in Madison, Maine. Shah had reported 158 cases connected to the wedding in a briefing Tuesday.

The wedding was held in East Millinocket and the reception was held at the Big Moose Inn on Lake Millinocket, which is on unorganized territory to the northwest of East Millinocket.

A total of 134 people have died in Maine during the coronavirus pandemic, including three whose deaths were connected to the Maine wedding, even though they did not attend it. No new deaths were reported Thursday, continuing a trend of several days.

The state on Thursday tallied a total of 4,760 confirmed and probable cases, which was up 26 from the previous day, Shah said.

Shah also said the state was looking into a new outbreak at a freight hauling facility in Bangor, where four people had tested positive for the virus.

He said all the staff at the site, about 75 people, had been tested and “as we receive those test results, we’ll know more about what the true nature of the situation is.”