Health officials in Maine have now linked 32 cases of the coronavirus to a church and its affiliated school.
The number of cases connected to Brooks Pentecostal Church in Waldo County has nearly doubled since Sunday, when Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials initially said 17 people were infected.
The state CDC is recommending testing and precautions for anyone who attended a rally the church hosted Oct. 2-4.
A total of 124 cases of the virus have been reported in Waldo County since March, according to the Portland Press-Herald, including an outbreak at a Belfast retirement home that has led to 43 confirmed cases and 13 deaths.
Elsewhere in the state, Sanford’s Calvary Baptist Church reported at least 10 cases in August, according to the newspaper. Calvary Baptist pastor Todd Bell was also the officiant at a wedding that has been linked to nearly 200 cases statewide.
Maine has reported a total of 5,962 cases of the virus and 146 deaths.
The state last week averaged an increase of approximately 34 cases per day, up from an increase of almost 34 cases per day two weeks ago and roughly 29 cases per day last month. Its seven-day average positivity rate stood at 0.49 percent Monday, slightly down from between 0.5 to 0.6 percent in recent weeks and far short of the nationwide average of approximately 5 percent.