Thanks to the efforts of Maine people, all of you who have largely abided by public health measures that we have imposed to keep us all safe, our state has been relatively successful in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in the last few months.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

I know the worst parts of this pandemic, the ones we see in other states, those can feel pretty far away from the relative safety of our State of Maine.

Little by little, you may have started to reconnect with friends that you haven’t seen in months, or venture out for a small backyard barbeque, or got to a close-friend’s wedding, or a drive-in graduation party. Things almost feel normal, after the constant worry of the last six months especially, and you start to relax.  You might forget to wear your mask or to keep your distance, but you think, hey it’s ok what are the chances, you live in Maine. Odds are you won’t catch anything you tell yourself.

What you don’t realize is that one person at the party you went to has COVID-19 and doesn’t even know it. They don’t have symptoms, they are feeling okay, and you have no warning. You leave that party and go home to your family, you see a few friends, you stop by the grocery store and you go back to work, never knowing that you have caught the virus and you are exposing others, including people you may never meet yourself.

Hey this isn’t just a possibility – it is reality.

You know what happened in Millinocket.

A woman who didn’t attend the wedding or the reception, but who simply interacted with someone else who did, she died from that exposure.

Sixty people are now associated with that outbreak, they’ve been tested positive for COVID, and that has spread to Madison and down to York County and maybe many other places too.

One little match can spark a big fire that we might be unable to put out.

As we reach the end of summer, we are beginning a new phase of reopening with many schools and universities bringing students back for classroom instruction.

We are expanding testing to identify and isolate outbreaks before they can spread.  But hey testing alone can’t prevent new cases or a new outbreak. Only we can do that as each of us keeps doing our part.

I know people are getting tired, you’re going to be impatient and anxious maybe. We all are. But we cannot let down our guard. Pandemic fatigue could cause fatal consequences for people if we don’t stay focused on the end game which is keeping everyone safe.

So, we got to remember, wash our hands frequently, maintain six feet of distance, stay home when you can, especially if you are older or have an underlying health condition, and wear a face covering when you’re out in public when it is hard to maintain six feet of distance between ourselves and others.

Please, do not attend or organize large gatherings, indoors or outdoors. Don’t take a chance.

We have got to protect our health and the health of our families. It concerns me, for instance, that childhood immunizations have plummeted in recent months as parents avoid doctor’s offices out of fear of the virus. Whether your child is returning to classroom or not, getting protected against the flu and other contagious diseases is critical, as part of our overall public health plan and as part of our efforts to control the pandemic. Any outbreak of whooping cough, measles or the flu could overwhelm our hospitals that are already working to combat COVID-19. And immunization allows your physician to rule out preventable diseases like the flu when your child shows symptoms that are similar to COVID-19. This is really important.

We have set up immunization clinics throughout Maine to help parents “catch up” on their child’s health. Parents can call 207-287-4112 Monday - Friday 8:30 - 4:30 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

If we protect ourselves and one another by taking these steps, we can continue to restart our economy and reopen schools in a safe way, and limit the spread of this dangerous virus as we welcome autumn in Maine.

This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening and please stay safe.

On the morning of September 16, 2019, a call rang out. A truck responded. Within seconds disaster struck. An explosion rocked the town and took the life of a first responder and injured many others.

What followed that explosion was not only shock and grief, but an outpouring of support from all corners of the state, folks who came there to make sure Farmington would be safe while the fire department, suddenly bereft of its finest members, recovered.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

Following the explosion at the LEAP facility in my hometown last year, caused as we now know by a gas leak, I directed the Department of Public Safety to determine if any fire departments in Maine still lacked gas detection capacity.

The Department of Public Safety, the Maine Fire Chief’s Association and the Maine Municipal Association surveyed all Maine fire departments. Twenty departments responded that they had no way to detect the presence of a gas leak while they were responding to calls.

Every fire department in Maine ought to be able to detect the presence of gas and take steps to address the situation safely, as they work to protect others.

Using my State Contingent Account as Governor, for a small amount of money I purchased twenty sophisticated gas detection meters which will be provided to every fire department who said they need one.

These are the fire departments of Brownfield, Burlington, Cherryfield, Corinth, Danforth, Dixmont, Hiram, Littleton, Machias, Marshfield, Millinocket, Minot, North Haven, North Lakes, Old Orchard Beach, Portage Lake, Roxbury, Washburn, Waterboro and Winterport. They will all receive meters and any training they need to use them from the Maine Emergency Management Agency. I also purchased two extra meters in the event other departments need them.

I promised the people of Farmington last year, including our so resilient Chief Terry Bell, who was severely injured and who lost his brave brother Captain Michael Bell in the blast, and the people of towns all across this state, I promised them that we were going to make sure every department has what they need so this tragedy is never repeated.

I hope that these new gas detections meters will prevent tragedies like the one in Farmington and spare us the painful loss of another heroic first responder.

On behalf of the people of Maine, I thank all of our first responders who put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and I will continue to do everything I can to keep you safe in return.

This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

Having a complete and accurate count of Maine people is essential to our representation in Congress and in the State House, to the allocation of billions of dollars of federal grants, and to funding state-based programs and services.

The 2020 Census is much more than just a head-count. It is a critical measure that will help ensure our state’s voice is heard in the years to come.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

It is critical that Maine people feel comfortable participating and that you understand the importance of the 2020 census, however Maine’s participation in the census is currently very low.

As of August 7th, only 55.3 percent of Maine households have participated. Undercounting our population could cost the state billions of dollars.

As we continue to protect public health and safely reopen our economy, it is more important than ever that Maine people be fully and accurately counted in the census. The federal funds that we need to begin the long path to recovery from the hardships caused by COVID-19 depend on the census.

Based on the previous Census of 2010, Maine received over $4 billion each year in federal funds for school lunch programs, for student loan relief, for health care, for road maintenance and many other critical services. But if our population is not fully counted, funding for these important programs will decline.

Census data are also used to redistrict legislative districts; to forecast transportation needs for all segments of the population; to determine areas eligible for housing assistance and rehabilitation loans; to assist federal, tribal, state, and local governments in planning programs like emergency response and services like those for people with disabilities, the elderly, and children.

All these things are based on population.

Personal information compiled in the census is confidential and secure. The census will not ask you about citizenship, or your social security number, or financial information or political affiliation, so you should feel safe about participating.

The 2020 Census is unique not only because the 2020 count will reflect the growth of the population over the last 10 years, but this will also be the first year you can fill out the Census online.

There is still time to participate online, by phone or by mail. Please visit 2020census.gov or call 844-330-2020.

Step up and be counted to make sure that you, and all of our state, gets our fair share.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening. Please stay safe.

This week’s radio address features Governor Mills’ remarks as delivered during her July 23, 2020 Second Annual Opioid Response Summit, “Compassion, Community, Connection.”

Greetings. It’s good to see all of you, though I cannot see you up close. It’s good to hear you, though I cannot discern your voices. But you are here in every real way. And the most powerful voices of people in recovery are being heard around the state and around the world.

When I was in Fifth grade in Gorham elementary school I read comic books every day after school (sometimes during school) — mostly male superheroes like Spider Man, Iron Man and Super Man.

Super Man, although he came to live and perform his super hero work in the metropolis, you will remember, actually retreated to a mountain sanctuary in some frozen tundra in the Arctic, a home his creators called the “Fortress of Solitude,” a place of solace and a sometime solitary headquarters for the “Man of Steel,” a place adorned with sentimental memorials to his long lost Kryptonian parents, Jor-El and Lara, and located in a polar wasteland not found on any destination vacation map.

In the past four months especially, many of us have retreated to our own “Fortress of Solitude,” where we have hibernated, closeted ourselves, physically, mentally and emotionally, in a cave of safety and isolation where we have been compelled to escape an unprecedented threat to the health and safety of our state, our country, and our world.

On March 15th, I issued an Executive Order directing all Maine people to “stay at home.” And Maine people did.

Those who stayed at home were working families, elderly grandparents, single moms and dads, state employees, factory workers, builders and teachers; but there were some who were without homes. And there were some with no families with whom to seek such sanctuary. And there were good people who had come to rely on friends, therapists, programs and groups to support them in kicking long term habits and dependencies who could not rely on those relationships in the same ways any more.

Suddenly support groups could not meet. Suddenly medication assisted therapy sometimes became out of reach. Suddenly some who usually answered a call were no longer there.

People with substance abuse disorders fell through the cracks.

People with mental health challenges fell through the cracks.

People with both mental health and substance abuse disorders fell hard.

Many found themselves alone in their own “fortress of solitude.”

I want to say today, “We have not forgotten you.” Come down from your tower, come out of your fortress. Because you are not alone.

Solitude consumed many of us. Aloneness became loneliness, personal connectivity deserted us.

We have found in this time of national insecurity, a time of unrelenting fear for our personal health and public and communal safety, that our material ambitions in life perhaps are hollow, that our financial and professional goals in truth are secondary to personal health, and that family and community cohesiveness is found not solely in Saturday night suppers or Beano games or church services and meetings, parades, festivals, bars and dances, but in the telephone call from one single person in need of a friendly voice; the email from a long lost classmate or cousin; the letter from someone you’d barely met but liked, a friendly photo on Instagram or Snap Chat.

The term “outreach” has suddenly taken on all new meaning.

People have reached out during this pandemic. And we have re-discovered our own humanity and our shared purpose in life.

Not entirely, of course. We have also lost many souls, as the parallel pandemic of substance use disorder has stolen the lives, livelihoods and sense of purpose of hundreds who swallowed pills, stuck needles in their arms and gave up on the rest of us who just couldn’t be there to help.

Their fortress of solitude crumbled. Some were simply out of reach.

And yet, heroes and helpers did come forth. Many of you listening to me this morning turned to, adapted, and saved lives. You turned your own anxiety into action, outpacing the feeling of helplessness that overcame others.

Outpatient treatment programs (methadone clinics) pivoted to providing take home doses to avoid daily trips to the clinic. The number of take home doses per weekly doubled to over 18,000 for over 3300 patients; and this change does not appear to have resulted in a single death.

Though the 13 recovery centers in Maine closed to drop-in traffic four months ago, volunteer recovery coaches worked throughout the period, calling persons in recovery and checking in on their wellbeing.

Downeast Treatment Center in Ellsworth, which operates an Opioid Health Home, experienced an increase in referrals during the pandemic because they quickly launched telehealth visits. People who previously had to drive long distances for treatment now started treatment immediately with a phone call; they had prescriptions emailed to their local pharmacy and got connected with a counselor for a virtual visit within a week. With transportation across the state such a challenge, the ability to quickly move to telehealth has increased access to much needed treatment, especially in rural areas.

Within days of the closure, dozens of support meetings such as AA transitioned to virtual platforms, allowing individuals to participate without having to arrange transportation or child care, etc.

Recovery residences opened their doors in Millinocket (for women) and Caribou (for men). There are now 114 recovery residences in the state, 41 of them being nationally certified. We are supporting 16 of these homes through a pilot program through Maine Housing with funds from the Office of Behavioral Health.

Robust Narcan distribution continued over these past four months, with an additional 20,000 doses purchased with state funds in the spring. Syringe exchange programs expanded during the same period, and we made adjustments to protect exchange members and allow for social distancing during the pandemic (Exec. Order 27).

Fred Rogers — Mr. Rogers — said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

Many of you listening to me today are the helpers, and your efforts over the past few months have been nothing short of heroic. It was only a year and a half ago, though it seems like the distant past now, that I took the oath of office of Governor.

The very next day, I signed Executive Order Number One which expanded MaineCare. Little did we know that just over fourteen months after that, tens of thousands of people in Maine who became unexpectedly unemployed or suddenly underemployed would rely on this program for lifesaving healthcare, including mental health and substance use disorder treatment.

Virtually my second act in office was to announce a comprehensive response to the epidemic of substance use disorder in our state, something I had prioritized and fought for previously as Attorney General.

First, I appointed Gordon Smith as Maine’s very first Director of Opioid Response. Gordon, with nearly forty years experience with the Maine Medical Association, and his reputation inside and outside the state house as a dogged researcher, an able advocate and a person of great integrity, became our Administration’s eyes and ears on the ground, looking at what works and what might not work, finding critical funding for new services, talking with people all over the state, and standing up programs in regions where virtually no help existed before.

Shortly after that I issued Executive Order Number Two, which committed state government to a series of actions to address the substance use crisis, including:

• Purchasing and distributing thousands of doses of the life-saving drug Naloxone
• Supporting low barrier access to Suboxone (Buprenorphine) in all 33 emergency departments in the state.
• Providing medication assisted treatment in all Department of Corrections prison facilities and in all county jails, and
• Recruiting, training and coordinating 250 recovery coaches to provide emergency support to those in crisis.

We stipulated that these actions would all be carried out in a manner designed to decrease the stigma attached to substance use disorder, reminding people that this illness is a chronic disease and should be treated as such.

Since that time, the state has purchased 35,000 doses of Naloxone. Medication assisted treatment is now available in two-thirds of our hospital emergency departments all across the state. And treatment is available in all Department of Corrections facilities and in the majority of our county jails. More than 300 recovery coaches are now trained and ready for the call in the middle of the night.

Despite the physical challenges posed by the pandemic, we have expanded our safe syringe exchanges from seven to fourteen sites, with more to be added by the end of this calendar year.

And with our initiatives that began back in 2015, continued by Attorney General Frey, and supplemented by our recent purchases, Naloxone has resulted in nearly 1500 successful reversals. We are saving lives.

But a recent increase in fatal overdoses is concrete evidence that we have to do more. Last year, Maine reported 380 fatal overdoses, many of them resulting from fentanyl, these tragic deaths sparing no county, no region of Maine.

Nationally, nearly 71,000 Americans died from drug overdoses last year, five percent more than in 2018, and more than the previous record set in 2017, with Maine being among 35 states that saw an increase, some dramatically so. South Dakota, for instance, experienced a record 54% spike in overdose deaths. The national 2019 overdose death numbers are higher than the totals ever recorded for car accidents, guns or AIDS, and it looks like this year will be even worse. In Maine, in the first quarter of 2020, fatalities due to drugs were 23% higher than the fourth quarter of 2019: 127 deaths, compared to 103, comparable to increases seen across the country.

Addiction researcher Brendan Saloner notes the American overdose crisis “has been shape-shifting,” with users migrating to heroin and now to fentanyl, the rising deaths in so many states creating a “map of despair.” The coronavirus pandemic, he notes, is likely creating more demand among users, and people “are feeling a lot more despair, anxiety and rootlessness,” which leads to “more problematic drug use and more risk of overdose.”

While we can learn from the experiences of other states, we need to develop Maine-based solutions to this insidious disease. In addition to our current harm reduction strategies of widely distributing Narcan and conducting outreach to persons using drugs through syringe exchanges, we are also considering other actions:

We will seek passage of LD 2153 which will establish an overdose fatality expert review panel, with the goal of reviewing confidential and publicly available information on select cases to develop recommendations for policy changes.

We will continue public information campaigns to discourage people using drugs from using alone and to let them know about the availability of treatment in their area with a treatment locator application or telephone number.

We will inform law enforcement agencies and users of drugs about the Good Samaritan Law enacted last year which I was proud to sign into law.

We will work to change current law which prevent EMS personnel from distributing Naloxone. (They can administer but not distribute it). Given that a major predictor of a fatal overdose is the fact that an individual has survived a previous overdose, there is likely no better time to furnish a Narcan kit than after an overdose reversal by an EMS responder.

We will establish a rapid response team to respond to spikes in given localities identified by OD Map. “OD Map” is a federally funded initiative that allows more than 50 law enforcement agencies to enter real time data at the time of an overdose. This information is then widely shared in the community in a manner so as to protect the privacy rights of the individual.

We will continue to get at the root causes of the problem and focus a great deal more on prevention, preventing young people from starting down the road that leads so frequently to substance use disorders.

We will thoroughly review the recommendations of our Prevention Task Force to determine which approaches promise the most benefit. I want to acknowledge the efforts of Commissioner Makin and her staff at the Department of Education who are developing a Maine-based curriculum around social and emotional learning that will be available to all Maine schools this fall at no cost.

And we will continue to support Maine people in recovery. We are fully aware that we need more recovery housing, recovery friendly jobs, recovery centers and recovery coaches. We will continue to fund substance use disorder treatment of all kinds — residential, outpatient, intensive outpatient, and detox.

I am proud of what we have accomplished in only eighteen months. But I will not rest until we deliver on the promise to attack this deadly and destructive disease until we have rooted it out.

I want to acknowledge and thank the dozen courageous voices of recovery who are participating today. By sharing their profound personal stories, they are sending a powerful message to those who are still struggling, a message that says recovery is not only possible, but probable.

And I want to thank former Surgeon General Murthy for sharing his time and talents with us today. You know, just a few years ago, Dr. Murthy authored the first Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs and Health, issuing a call to action to the nation and recognizing addiction as a chronic illness and not a moral failing. Focusing on the epidemic of loneliness, Dr. Murthy has made an important contribution to the public discourse surrounding substance use disorder. I look forward to reading his book.

While it is important to do everything we can to protect ourselves and our families and neighbors from the spread of the deadly Coronavirus, we must also not let up on our efforts to address the epidemic of substance use disorder and the pandemic of isolation which quickly turns to disconnection, loneliness and drug use in circumstances that make overdose reversal difficult.

Addiction is a disease of isolation, so when we ask people to be physically distant, to stay home, and to stay apart and wear face coverings, we are also removing supports for people in recovery, persons who need all the community support and connection we can provide.

I am proud of the many treatment providers and supports. Groups which have quickly pivoted to online meetings and treatment. But we must do more to make sure people needing assistance remain connected to support structures, connected to community in every way possible.

We’re not merely providing services; we are providing care. And it is care and compassion that is at the heart of who we are as a state, as a nation.

Something this pandemic has revealed to us is that a culture of hyper-individualism which our society has come to idealize can not support us as a community with a common humanity.

“Don’t let your neighbor drift along in lanes of loneliness,” one Rabbi is quoted as saying in David Brooks’ book “The Second Mountain.” Knock on your neighbor’s door. Open their fortress of solitude. Invite them back into society. Let’s not be strangers living in emotionally gated communities.

In this time of national crisis, of economic distress, of social upheaval and political uncertainty, we are all fallible, we all need each other. We are only strong as we stay connected with one another. Our state, our nation, cannot afford to lose a single member in our community of souls. To all of you out there, all in need, we are listening to you. We love you. We need you.

And for all of us, we must become givers, and helpers, never giving up. And we must have hope — that quality which Emily Dickinson described as, “the thing with feathers that perches on the soul, that sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.”

Super Man found sanctuary in his icy Fortress of Solitude; he built himself a place of retreat, research, meditation and strength. The fortresses of today, for normal people, are no longer sanctuaries, if once they ever were; they are places of dangerous isolation, barriers that disconnect people from others. We are not super humans. We are normal people with flaws and failings, we are fallible and we need other people.

Let us unlock those doors of isolation.

I want to thank all of those participating today who are part of our robust recovery community. With these powerful voices, we will unlock the frozen doors of solitude, of loneliness, of the disease that has stolen the lives of thousands of people of all ages, of all backgrounds, of all regions.

To Ryan, Chantel, Marshall, Ashely, Regina, Molly, Veronica, Kayty, Ray, Chastity, Justin and Will, and thousands others in your shoes, you who have the courage to recover, to persevere and to speak up, I say, Welcome Home.

Please know that, in my Administration, you will always find an open door, an open mind, and an open heart.

Thank you all. Don’t be a stranger. And please, stay safe.

Tuesday, July 14 is primary election day here in Maine.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

This year, two critical bond questions are on the ballot, in addition to people running for office at every level. These bond issues will improve our infrastructure across the state of Maine.

Question One asks: Do you favor a $15 million bond issue to invest in high-speed internet [infrastructure] for unserved and underserved areas, to be used to match up to $30 million in federal, private, local or other funds?

Question Two asks: Do you favor a $105 million bond issue for improvement of highways and bridges statewide and for multimodal facilities and you know, certain other transportation projects, [or equipment related to transit, freight and passenger railroads, aviation, ports, harbors, marine transportation and active transportation projects,] to be used to match an estimated $275 million in federal and other funds?

I strongly urge Maine people to approve both these measures. They are so timely and so important.

These two bonds are at the heart of our economic recovery now. They will trigger millions in matching federal funds, money we won’t otherwise receive – and we will be borrowing at a time when interest rates are at an all time low. It’s simply the smart thing to do.

So, Question One.

High-speed internet as we all know is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity.

The ability of a student to keep up in their homework, the ability of a doctor to monitor the health of a homebound senior, the ability of a person to work remotely, or of a business to start or grow in a rural area - all of that hinges on high speed internet access. Yet tens of thousands of Maine businesses and households across our state do not have even minimal levels of internet service.

As one owner of a small business put it to me recently, “You want to grow the economy?” she said, “Give us better internet.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced thousands of Maine families to transition quickly to remote learning and remote working, highlighting the need for reliable high speed internet access all across Maine.

This long overdue broadband bond, which will trigger $30 million in matching funds, will bring internet to some of the most needy communities in Maine — allowing businesses to expand and allowing people everywhere to connect with schools, medical care, families, friends, and markets around the country and around the world.

I strongly urge you to approve Question One.

What about Question Two, the transportation bond?

Well Maine is a rural state. We have one of the most dispersed populations of any state in the country, so maintaining transportation infrastructure is always a challenge.

A couple years ago, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave Maine roads a grade of D, gave our bridges a C-, and our railroads a C for their poor condition. 

While the Legislature continues to work on a bipartisan, long-term funding solution for our transportation infrastructure, this bond is critical to maintaining our roads and bridges across the state. Transportation bonds also typically trigger significant matching federal, local and private funds — in this case $275 million estimated.

While it’s always a good investment, this year’s transportation bond is more important now than ever before in light of the pandemic.

As the number of vehicles on Maine roads dropped by about half in recent months, gas revenues plummeted, and the highway fund has lost critical funding. The Maine Department of Transportation is bracing for a $56 million hit.

That’s an 11 percent drop in the next fiscal year — the deepest and most sudden drop of highway fund revenue in memory.

Cutting road projects for lack of funding will mean decreasing safety for travelers and eliminating jobs that are so critical to our economy.

So, I urge everyone to approve Question Two.

I usually vote in person on election day. I enjoy seeing folks at the polls. This year however, I voted absentee, and I urge everyone else to vote absentee as well. It is so important to do that to minimize your exposure to COVID-19 and to protect the health of poll workers and other voters and members of the public.

This primary election day because of an Executive Order I signed, you can vote absentee with no excuse, no reason given right up to 8 PM on Tuesday as long as you get your ballot into the polls by 8 PM Tuesday.

Polling places will be open on Election Day for those who choose to vote in person, but, according to the Secretary of State Matt Dunlap, voters should plan for a little additional wait time because of new procedures, like social distancing and sanitization measures, all intended to protect the health of all Maine people.

This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

As always, please stay safe. And don’t forget to vote!

At the end of World War II, Judge Learned Hand spoke at an “I Am an American Day” ceremony in New York City’s Central Park, asking himself and us all what it truly means to be free.

“We have gathered here to affirm a faith, a faith in a common purpose, a common conviction, a common devotion,” he said. “…We have [a] right to consider ourselves … those who had the courage to break from the past and brave the dangers and the loneliness of a strange land. What was the object that nerved us, or those who went before us, to this choice?”

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Judge Learned Hand answered his own question regarding those who came to this land from other lands, he said, “We sought liberty — freedom from oppression, freedom from want, freedom to be ourselves.” He concluded that liberty rests not in “ruthless unbridled will or the freedom to do as one likes,” which leads to freedom possessed by only a cruel few, but instead in the hearts of every man and woman who seeks to understand the minds of others, those who weigh others’ interests alongside their own without bias, and in the spirit of an America that “strives to be a signal,” he said, “a beacon, a standard, to which the best hopes of mankind will [for]ever turn.”

This year’s celebration of our nation’s founding will be unlike anything we’ve ever seen in our lifetimes.

A global pandemic has infected millions of people. The very ways in which we show our love and joy and grief and sorrow — handshakes, hugs, shouts and songs — they are no longer safe as they used to be. The same goes for the backyard family barbeque with family and friends from near and far.

To combat the spread of the deadly virus we are facing and to save lives, governors across the country have imposed restrictions on the movements and activities of their people.

Boy when I ran for Governor I never envisioned I would have to tell people in Maine to stay home. To wash their hands. To stay six feet apart from others at all times. To wear a cloth face covering.

I did so as many other governors did so because public health experts have told us those are the ways we have to fight back against this pandemic, and other states and nations who have managed to curb this virus have proven those measures are effective.

But despite the science, which shows us what we need to do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and begin healing our economy, some people have tried to make this pandemic political. Saying that requiring people to wear face cloth coverings is forcing them to give up their freedoms, their personal liberty.

But then again, are any of us truly free while this pandemic rages on around us? And isn’t the purpose of a face covering to protect others as well as ourselves?

Like the founding of our nation, our freedom, our liberty, now rest on the spirit of patriots. Patriots who face great odds, but who fight with determination and hope for our collective future.

The Declaration of Independence ends with this simple promise the founders made to each other, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

This July 4th let us once again “pledge to each other our lives”. Let us remember in this difficult time that our fortunes and futures are bound together.

The hope of our past and the faith in our future are with us this Independence Day, as we raise our heads high, face coverings and all showing that we care for our neighbor, showing that we respect the freedoms and safety of all citizens, showing our great love for our state, our love for our nation.

So wear the face covering, wear the mask with pride, in honor of every patriot including those many patriots, the honored warriors whom we have lost to COVID-19.

God bless you all. God bless the State of Maine this July 4th weekend.

This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening and stay safe.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and our gradual reopening process, the Maine CDC has been monitoring epidemiological data, like case trends and hospitalization rates as well as health care readiness and capacity, to inform all of our decisions on lifting restrictions and stimulating our economy.

We look at these metrics every day. We look at them in their totality and we look at them in context, as opposed to looking at daily changes of one metric itself to inform our decisions.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Adjusted for population now, as of June 25, Maine now ranks 7th lowest in the nation in positive cases; we are 9th lowest in the nation in terms of deaths from COVID-19; we are 6th lowest in terms of patients that are ever-hospitalized out of the 36 states reporting; and 5th highest in the percentage of people who have recovered, out of the 42 states reporting.

In light of those data and those trends, we are moving ahead with Stage 3 of our Restarting Maine’s Economy Plan.  Starting July 1st, this coming week,  spas and skin care establishments; outdoor amusements, like amusement parks and water parks; indoor amusements, such as bowling alleys, arcades, movie theaters and performing arts venues may reopen if they wish, with health and safety protocols in place. The prohibition on gatherings of more than 50 people remains in place for all activities for public health reasons.

My Administration has also approved the first round of grants to municipalities under the Keep Maine Healthy Plan. Using federal Coronavirus Relief Funding from the CARES Act, these grants will help towns and cities implement their own COVID-19 prevention, education and protection plans to keep residents and staff and visitors healthy and safe.

For example, with this funding we’ll reimburse some municipalities for the purchase of personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer; it will allow some towns to place signs on side-walks to encourage people to maintain six feet distance from each other; or we’ll fund a local health officer in some towns to ensure that local businesses conform to public health best practices.

As the economy gradually restarts, and as the hospitality industry looks to hire people, I also want to remind folks too that people who are on unemployment can go back to work part time and take a part time job and not lose unemployment benefits in their entirety. And anyone who is receiving at least $1 in unemployment and you go back to work part time, you’ll also keep the additional $600 a week federal unemployment benefit through July 25th. Pretty good deal.

So these new grants to our towns and cities, along with the July 1st reopenings, are positive steps for Maine and for our economy, but boy Maine people and visitors and businesses have to keep remaining vigilant too.

The very high increase and in some instances record high increases in the number of COVID-19 cases in other states – that’s a cautionary tale for Maine as we continue our reopening and as we monitor the prevalence of the virus here, and work towards economic recovery.

Boy nothing would be more devastating to our economy than to see a significant surge in this virus, the virus that sickens and kills more people and jeopardizes our health care capacity.

It is possible, if not likely even, that the changes we are making will result in an uptick in cases so we will be keeping a close eye on all the epidemiological data as we have been doing from the very start.

We’ll look at the data in our state, and the data in our neighboring states, and states like New York and Connecticut where many people come from to visit Maine in the summer.

And if a review of the data about Maine finds evidence of an increase in COVID-19 or a risk to the capacity of our health care system, we will have to move quickly to protect Maine people.

But the most effective way to make sure that we do not have to reestablish restrictions and we can keep our economy going is by taking care of ourselves and each other.

So, I ask you as your Governor– please – if you own or work at a public-facing business, please strictly adhere to all health and safety protocols. Don’t let down your guard now. Protecting your customers and your staff protects your business as well.

I ask all Maine people, remember to wash your hands frequently, maintain six feet of distance between yourself and others no matter where you are, stay home when you can, especially if you are older or have an underlying health condition, and wear a face covering when you are out in public when it is hard to maintain six feet of distance between you and others. Please do that.

Studies now show that those face coverings really work.

If we protect ourselves and protect one another by taking these steps, we can continue to reopen our economy in a safe way, and we can limit the spread of this dangerous virus as we welcome the tourist season in Maine.

It is up to every one of us.

This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening and stay safe.

This week my Administration unveiled the "Keep Maine Healthy" plan to protect the health of Maine people while encouraging tourists to visit Maine safely, supporting our small businesses and their workforce during these crucial summer months.

Hello this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

The plan is the result of weeks of discussion and engagement with tourism and hospitality folks, business owners, chambers of commerce, public health experts, lawmakers, town officials, and others.

Here are the basics:

Under the plan, adults – not children – who took and received a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours before a visit, may forgo the 14-day quarantine upon arrival in Maine.

A negative test indicates that, even when they come from areas with a higher prevalence of the disease than Maine’s, such people are unlikely to have COVID-19 with a negative test or to spread it to Maine residents and other visitors and workers.

So, we strongly urge visitors to "Know Before You Go," meaning they should get tested and receive their test results in their home state before coming to Maine.

We are exempting residents of New Hampshire and Vermont from testing and 14-day quarantine altogether, as of Friday June 12th, because the prevalence of active cases of COVID-19 in those states is pretty similar to Maine’s based on population.

By contrast, in places like Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey – where nearly half of Maine’s tourists come from – the virus is eight to eleven times more prevalent than in Maine. Those individuals will be able to stay in a lodging facility in Maine starting June 26th.

We are also stepping up our game on symptom checking to keep everybody safe.

The Department of Health and Human Services has teamed up with Maine community colleges to enlist students in the health professions so they may go out and ask visitors in those high-traffic places in tourist destinations about symptoms and offer advice on staying healthy.

We are also offering financial incentives to the towns to develop their own COVID-19 prevention and protection plans — that’s federal money to help the towns develop these plans. 

Throughout the coming weeks and months, Maine CDC will monitor epidemiological data, as it has throughout the entire reopening process — case trends, hospitalization rates, reports of COVID-like symptoms, as well as health care readiness and capacity.

There is no question that the COVID-19 pandemic has loomed large over our tourism industry — an industry that is already severely affected by travel restrictions on Canadian visitors; by a downturn in the economy nationally and by a decrease in consumer spending across the country.

Some people are afraid that tourist traffic will increase the spread of the virus, while many small businesses fear that if visitors don’t come, they will have to close their doors permanently.

Well I am also deeply concerned about our economy. But boy I can think of nothing worse, nothing more devastating than an outbreak or resurgence of this deadly untreatable virus at the height of tourist season. Nothing would be worse for our economy and for the tourism industry in particular. I want visitors and staff and the public all to know that they are protected, by every means possible.

You know I get messages every day from people who are grateful that Maine has remained a safe state to live in and that the hard work of our public health people has kept our numbers low. This new plan aims to keep those numbers low and to keep people safe. And it is working.

Just the other day one person wrote:

"My husband works in healthcare… in Maryland. [Other than] FaceTime, I haven’t seen him since early March. We [were planning] … he would drive from Maryland … to Maine, [so] we were upset with Gov. Mills’ announcement [and] concerned that he wouldn’t be [coming into] the state so he proactively took a COVID-19 test...He learned just two hours ago that he’s COVID positive. He is asymptomatic… [but] this was a clear shot across the bow for our family [and] we have an extended "familial bubble" that includes an immuno-compromised family member which may have led to devastating consequences."

This family’s story is exactly why we developed this plan. By creating layers of protection to reduce the risk of transmission of the virus we can protect the public health, establish Maine as a safe place to visit, and invite tourists to come here safely and support our economy.

We want to save both the lives and livelihoods of Maine people.

This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

Throughout this COVID-19 pandemic and our gradual reopening of the economy, the Maine CDC has monitored epidemiological data, including case trends and hospitalization rates, and health care readiness and capacity, to inform every one of our decisions on lifting restrictions in the State of Maine.

What do these trends look like?

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

In the past two weeks, Maine’s count of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased. Three counties in particular show alarming trends in these cases.

In the seven days beginning Wednesday, May 20 to Tuesday, May 26, a total of 96 neThroughout this COVID-19 pandemic and our gradual reopening of the economy, the Maine CDC has monitored epidemiological data, including case trends and hospitalization rates, and health care readiness and capacity, to inform every one of our decisions on lifting restrictions in the State of Maine.

What do these trends look like?

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

In the past two weeks, Maine’s count of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased. Three counties in particular show alarming trends in these cases.

In the seven days beginning Wednesday, May 20 to Tuesday, May 26, a total of 96 new cases was reported in Androscoggin County alone, for an average daily increase there of almost 14.

In the same time frame, a total of 193 new cases was reported in Cumberland County, for an average daily increase of more than 27.

In that same time frame also, a total of 52 new cases occurred in York County, for an average daily increase of more than 7.

In light of those trends, earlier this week, my Administration postponed the reopening of restaurants for dine-in service in York, Cumberland, and Androscoggin counties.

Restaurants in these counties were tentatively scheduled to reopen to dine-in services on June 1.

Instead, they may now offer outside dining service beginning June 1, but not dine-in eating.

I also announced that restaurants in Maine’s other thirteen counties can reopen as planned on June 1st for indoor and outdoor dining with precautions.

As of this recording, Maine has reopened its economy on a par with or to an even greater extent than other New England states.

Still, I know that this week’s announcement was unwelcome news for some restaurants in Cumberland, York and Androscoggin counties who had been preparing to fully reopen next week. I recognize and deplore the impact that this has on them.

I hear people asking: could we have given them a few more days, a little more notice? Well I would like to have been able to provide more notice, but, knowing that nothing is predictable about this pandemic except that people will get sick and many will die, I am trying to balance that fact with the need to consider the most current public health data and trends available.

So over that past week leading up to Wednesday, the trend in Androscoggin County for instance, continued to climb in a disturbing fashion. We had no choice. 

Every decision has consequences that are devastating for some, but every decision is intended to protect people of Maine from a deadly virus which is often spread in enclosed spaces where people tend to sit for extended periods of time, places like indoor dining facilities.

As Governor my responsibility is to protect the health and wellbeing of Maine people and to support our economy – and I will continue to fight to strike that balance.

The easy thing to do would be to allow everything to reopen. The easy thing to do would be to say yes to every business that wants to open widely and pretend that things are the same as they were a year ago, but they’re not and there is nothing easy about any of this. Our decisions however are based on fact and medical science, not on politics and not on popularity. The people of Maine expect no less of us.

So, I ask you – please – remember to wash your hands frequently, maintain six feet of distance between you and others, stay home when you can especially if you are older or have a health condition. Wear a cloth face covering when you are out in public to protect others.

Stay local, shop local. Support your local small businesses whenever possible.

Thank you for your continued patience and cooperation. We’ve kept our numbers low in comparison to other states because we’ve done the right thing and you’ve done the right thing.

We are in this together.

As Doctor Anthony Fauci said earlier this week “Now is the time, if ever there was one, for us to care selflessly about one another.”

I couldn’t agree more.

This is Governor Janet Mills.

Thank you for listening.