Bangor, Maine News Update: July 22, 2020

The Maine CDC reports 12 new cases of COVID-19 in the state and 32 more people who have recovered. A man in his 70’s from Cumberland County, diagnosed with the virus, has died. DHHS, in cooperation with the CDC, announced the establishment of four more swab and send testing sites in Skowhegan, Lincoln, Sanford, and Westbrook.

A Turner man was critically injured yesterday while working on the I-95 bridge replacement project in Hampden. Eric Jabbusch was pinned when several steel sheet pilings fell off a truck. Jabbusch works for a sub-contractor out of South Portland, but main contractor Cianbro has called off the work pending an investigation into safety protocols.

The accuracy of antigen tests for COVID-19 has come into question after several young people at a summer camp in Maine tested positive for the virus, only to test negative when tested in the Maine CDC laboratory. Dr. Nirav Shah said on Tuesday that anyone who tests positive using antigen testing should follow up using the methodology used by the CDC lab in Augusta.

Bangor’s homeless population was the subject of Monday’s city council meeting, and, in particular, how to deal with the rising numbers. City officials say one issue is other communities that are sending their homeless into Bangor which is becoming more than the city can handle. They say other municipalities need to start working on a plan for their own population.

The University of Maine at Machias has suspended its athletics program immediately, although it will honor athletic scholarships through the 2023-2024 academic year. School officials told WABI that it’s part of an effort to restructure because of the financial impact of the pandemic. The change will affect two full-time employees, four temporary part-time coaches, and 73 students.

Dale Crafts has officially won the Republican primary for Maine’s 2nd Congressional district, after winning the ranked-choice tabulation. Despite the fact that his two opponents conceded the race, the ranked-choice law came into effect because he hadn’t won more than 50% of the votes. Crafts will face Democratic Representative Jared Golden in November