This week, I announced the end of the State of Civil Emergency for Maine which I first declared back on March 15, 2020.

It is time. 

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

Well it’s not that we’ve cured a disease. Or that we’ve banned the virus completely or removed this pandemic forever from our lives, or that there aren’t still people getting sick and being hospitalized (especially those not vaccinated); And it’s not that we’ve thrown caution to the wind. Or that everything now is exactly as it was sixteen months ago.

A state of civil emergency is no longer necessary. It is over. And it is time.

Like other states, my Administration declared a State of Civil Emergency at the first sign of the pandemic back in March 2020, quickly rallying all resources we might find to protect Maine people from this dangerous virus. 

In the nearly sixteen months that have followed, we have implemented public health and safety measures, dialing them up and then scaling them down when circumstances and science demanded it. 

The adjustments we made to meet the challenges of a new and changing virus would not have been possible without the commitment of Maine people.

We asked you to stay home, we asked you to wear masks, to watch your distance, to avoid large gatherings. And you did.

We sought the full cooperation of the people of Maine. And we got it. You took this seriously, as well you should.

Because of the steps you took to protect yourselves, your loved ones, your communities, your fellow Mainers, we have maintained among the lowest rates of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths – and the highest rate of vaccinations – in the country. 

We’re now bragging that we’re the safest state in the nation.

As CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah put it the other day, “If you want to walk fast, then walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk together.” Well, we walked together, patiently, courageously. Dr. Shah concluded, “We faced the worst that nature had to offer and responded with the best that humanity could imagine.”

So the collective efforts of a people and their government have worked, but we have also learned that we cannot take our health or our progress for granted.

The pandemic is not over yet -- especially for those who remain unvaccinated. Nearly all of those hospitalized in Maine and suffering with COVID-19 are not fully vaccinated.

I want to be clear -- the end of the State of Civil Emergency is not the end of the pandemic. My Administration and medical providers all over the state are encouraging everyone to get their shot -- it is the best way to protect our health and to protect the health of loved ones and our communities.

We still have some work to do -- some challenges that we have to tackle together, like building back a strong economy where all Maine people can succeed; like addressing the sharp increase in drug overdose deaths during the pandemic; and like getting all kids back in the classroom this fall. We can and we will do this together, just as we persevered thus far.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all you have done to keep yourselves, your loved ones, and your fellow Mainers safe.

This weekend we all celebrate Independence Day, joining friends, neighbors and family for parades, music and fireworks.

Celebrating our precious freedoms after the long, difficult year we’ve had will be most welcome and most enjoyable. I wish you all a very happy and healthy holiday.

As always, it is my honor to serve as Governor of this great state.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Not a week goes by but what I receive a sad letter from a mother or father or someone who’s overdosed on drugs. These are tragedies happening in our state every day.

This week, the Office of the Maine Attorney General released a very sad report. Its annual report of drug overdose fatalities. That report reveals that 2020 was the deadliest year on record for drug overdoses. The report showed that 504 deaths were caused by drugs in 2020, a 33% increase over the 380 the year before in 2019. 336 of those deaths were due to non-pharmaceutical fentanyl, a 30% increase in fentanyl deaths over 2019.

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

You know the COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult in so many ways, but these terrible drug overdoses are yet another example of how the pandemic has hurt our state and hurt our people and taken lives. My heart breaks for every single life lost to drug overdose. Those who are lost are our friends, and neighbors, and loved ones and community members — people with lives that held meaning.

We can honor those lives and those communities by rededicating ourselves to ending the scourge of overdose deaths in our state, by preventing addiction in the first place, and by expanding access to treatment and recovery options.

This week I signed emergency legislation to establish an Accidental Drug Overdose Death Review Panel. The Panel will be charged with reviewing certain overdose deaths in order to dig deep and learn from those deaths and adjust our prevention policies when needed, with the goal of reducing more overdose deaths.

With this new panel, we can learn a great deal more about the root causes of addiction and we can adapt policies in an agile manner to meet this ever-changing threat, and save lives.

This is just the latest step we are taking to confront the opioid crisis in our state.

We also launched the OPTIONS program which places mobile response teams in each Maine county to promote drug prevention and harm reduction strategies, to connect people directly to recovery services and treatment, and to distribute more than 89,000 doses of naloxone, you know, the lifesaving overdose medication, that’s helped to reverse more than 2,200 reported opioid overdoses recently.

We have recruited and trained more than 530 recovery coaches and we’ve increased the number of Recovery Residences from 101 to 120, and the number of Recovery Community Centers from 9 to 13, with two others now planned for the towns of Lincoln and Ellsworth.

And we have proposed investing $30 million in the budget before the Legislature now to address the epidemic.

Healing our state from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic is a complicated challenge that will not happen overnight. There is no simple solution to saving lives lost to overdose, but prevention is paramount. If this last year has taught us anything it is this: that Maine people will persevere with a boundless belief in the promise and the potential of our state and in all of its people.

If you suffer from substance use disorder or have a family member who does, call 211, or visit the 211 website 211maine.org, or email info@211Maine.Org to get resources. We are ready to help.

This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

Right now, one in five Maine children don’t know where their next meal is coming from. 

No child should ever go hungry.

Good morning, I am Governor Janet Mills, thank you for listening.

While our biennial budget helps feed more hungry children in schools by eliminating the reduced-price lunch category and including those kids in the free-lunch category, it can be hard for families to get to nutritious food when schools are out for the summer.

I want to tell you about the Summer Food Service Program, funded through the US Department of Agriculture. It’s available statewide in areas of need at sites like schools, nonprofit summer places, government agencies, faith-based organizations, churches that helps fill the gap with free, nutritious meals for children in Maine.

Some schools are keeping their doors open during the summer to continue to serve hot meals, while other people are packing a cooler and heading to the local playground, swimming pool or park to provide free meals for kids. 

Children can often take part in activities with their friends and family while eating a healthy meal that meets the USDA guidelines for nutrition.

Last year, more than 123 sponsors at 450 sites in every county in Maine served more than 727, 238 meals.

Anyone under the age of 18 can come to eat at no cost, no questions asked. 

To see if there are free meals for kids near you, check out usda.gov/summerfoodrocks 

You can also text “Summer Meals” to 97779 or call Maine 211. Meal serving dates and times are subject to change through the summer, so be sure to check the website often.

I hope that these summer months are filled with precious time with your family, friends and neighbors - not hunger.

If your family needs a helping hand, please visit a Summer Food Service Program site near you.

Not only will a child have access to a healthy, nutritionally balanced, free meal, you will also be supporting your local school and community organizations. 

I am Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

Monday, November 11^th marks an important day in Maine and around the nation – it’s Veterans Day.

Good morning, I am Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

On this Veterans Day, as we do every day, we should recognize the men and women who faithfully served our state and nation in the Armed Forces. Let’s join together to thank them and their families for their sacrifice, their bravery, and their devotion to our country.

Today, our state can proudly say that we are home to more than 114,000 veterans – more than 11 percent of our adult population and one of the highest number of veterans per capita of any state in the nation. 

But when you consider Maine’s long and proud history of military service, that comes as no surprise.

During the Civil War, more than 2.8 million people served and more than 620,000 people gave, as Lincoln said, “the last full measure of devotion.” Many of those men came from Maine. Our state contributed a higher proportion of our citizens to the Union army than any other state in the nation.

One of my predecessors, General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, led the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War and he is credited with saving the Union at Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg.

From the Revolutionary War to the Civil War to World War I and World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan – Maine people have stood up to defend our nation and its ideals and our state has shouldered its responsibility to protect our country.

President Lincoln also understood the toll these wars have on people and their families, and he also knew that bringing an end to the war would not bring an end to our support for those who served.

“Let us strive on to finish the work we are in,” he said, “to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

Today, we care for those who have borne the battle and honor what they fought for — so many rights which all are too fragile and too often taken for granted.

• The right to disagree...the right to express an opinion, whether anyone listens or not.
• The right to pray. Or not to pray.
• The right to personal privacy. And in the fundamental decisions of life.
• The right to ask for governmental assistance, and the right to be free of governmental intrusion.

Maine veterans teach all of us to cherish our rights, to remember those who gave their lives for these freedoms.

They teach us to remember that our sons and daughters still defend those rights on battlefields and potential battlefields a world away and in postings across the globe.

They teach us by their example the self-sufficiency they learned in combat preparation, and the strong sense of responsibility that comes from hard work and hard times. 

They teach us honor. They show us dignity. They teach us service.

That is why I have officially proclaimed this week – November 10^th through November 16^th – as Veterans Week. Please join with me in commemorating these heroic men and women who have served our state and our nation.

To all Maine veterans — thank you for your service from the bottom of my heart and thank you for your sacrifice and that of your families. To all those who have served and to those who continue to serve our country: our hearts are with you this Veterans Day, two thousand and nineteen.

I am Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

This week I had a great discussion up at Blair Hill Inn and Restaurant in Greenville with business owners, residents, development leaders and local lawmakers. We focused on ideas and strategies for economic growth in rural Maine, particularly Western Maine. 

Good morning, I am Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

You know diversifying our economy, empowering innovators and attracting young, talented people to live and work in Maine is crucial to the future of our state.

That’s why earlier this year, I directed the Department of Economic and Community Development to create the very first long-term statewide economic development plan in decades.

That plan, which will be finalized in the coming weeks, is being written with input from government agencies, business leaders, educational institutions, private organizations and individuals like yourselves. It will focus on strategies to enhance economic growth, particularly in rural Maine, and address Maine’s workforce challenges.

As we finalize that plan, I think it’s important for me to hear the voices of business leaders and residents all over Maine, to understand their challenges and to learn how state government can help. 

So during our discussion up in Greenville, I heard about the issues that town faces, from funding local schools without increasing property taxes to repairing aging roads and bridges to health care and energy costs. I listened and I shared what my Administration has done to date to address those challenges.

In the biennial budget for instance, we invested $115 million in K-12 education, we began raising the minimum teacher salary to $40,000, and we allocated $18 million to repair aging school infrastructure. 

We also invested $75 million in property tax relief for Maine seniors, families, and small businesses. That’s money going back to you.

We fully funded the Medicaid expansion program and we restored Maine’s Low-Cost Drugs for the Elderly and Disabled Program. We enacted legislation to help lower the cost of prescription drugs, and we told the federal government that Maine will pursue its own state-based exchange to put us in the driver’s seat when it comes to health care.

And don’t forget to check www.CoverME.gov this week to find out what health insurance is available to you at the lowest cost and best coverage.

We also enacted — with the voters’ approval — a $105 million transportation bond to repair roads, highways and bridges, and to protect working waterfronts, and to restore commercial fishing wharfs.

Of course we still have a lot to do.

Every rural community has its strengths. 

For example, besides Greenville, I also visited Monson and Monson Arts which is located in downtown Monson and which offers four-week residencies to artists and writers from all over the place as well as intensive workshops and programs for local school kids and community members.

I met resident artists and writers and learned about the program’s work to spark educational growth, to attract people to rural Maine, and reinvigorate the economy of that town. I also visited Jemma Gascoine Pottery and Monson General Store on Main Street in Monson and talked about their experiences and their excitement about the future.

Undoubtedly the strategy to growing our rural economy will be multi-faceted, but one thing is clear. Supporting these rural communities as they build on their own strengths — as Monson and Greenville are doing — is critical.

Backing local businesses and organizations to attract talented people to live and work in rural Maine will expand our workforce, which is a key aspect of growing our economy statewide.

There is a spot for everyone in Maine’s economy, and we need everyone to participate.

I want innovators and entrepreneurs, families, and business owners to know that Maine has not only an unmatched quality of life, but also unmatched opportunity in new industries across our state.

I look forward to visiting more communities and hearing your thoughts on how we can foster economic growth in Maine in the coming months.

I am Governor Janet Mills.

Thank you for listening.

Maine is at an economic crossroads.

For generations, our forests, farmlands and waters have created economic opportunity all over this state.

Furs, fisheries, timber and land made fortunes for many until the late 1800s, and then large-scale production of lumber, granite, ice and lime, fishing and shipbuilding drove success in our coastal communities and resulted in a network of railroads. Textiles and paper products drove the work of mills across the state and put food on the table for thousands.

But recent decades have showed us the dangers of over-reliance on any one industry. Market demand for paper products has dwindled and foreign competition has caused some mills to shutter, putting thousands of Maine people out of work.

Good morning, I am Janet Mills, Governor of the State of Maine and thank you for listening.

Well in recent decades we’ve learned to adjust and change our economy and now it’s time for a long-range economic plan – the first time in decades that we’ve done one! 

While our aging population has left many employers across the state seeking a qualified, ready, and able workforce our children and grandchildren are leaving Maine unfortunately to find jobs in other states.

We’ve been digging deep to form a plan to redevelop our workforce in so many ways.

The strategic plan we’re unveiling this week creates a roadmap to foster innovation, to drive collaboration, to help jump-start economic growth in our state to achieve a diverse, forward-looking economy that will offer everyone the opportunity to succeed.

This plan synthesizes the views and opinions of thousands of people across the state and across the political spectrum, private and public sector, and is grounded in one overall mission:

That by 2030, our state will be an international leader and will have a vibrant and environmentally-sustainable economy.

The plan establishes three overarching goals for the next ten years in Maine:

1. Grow our average annual wage – what people make for a living – by 10 percent;
2. Increase the value of the products we sell by 10 percent;
3. Attract 75,000 people to Maine’s talent pool.

To accomplish these goals, our plan establishes seven key strategies: growing talent in Maine; attracting new talent to the state; promoting innovation; improving connectivity; bolstering infrastructure; maintaining a stable business environment, and promoting hubs of excellence.

Within each of these strategies, our plan offers concrete action steps that will be taken.

For example, we’re talking about a Maine Career Exploration Program to allow internships for high-school age students and to work with them throughout their young years to determine their interests and identify their passions and allow them to connect to the resources, and skills, and employers that can prepare them and put them on a career path whether that’s in trades, or tech or academics.

The plan creates a Welcome Home Program to welcome employers, entrepreneurs, and innovators to our state, enticing those who have grown up here and left, and those who are interested in moving here, to come to Maine. 

The plan also recommends common-sense ideas like simplifying the Education Opportunity Tax Credit to help motivate people to stay in Maine after their college education by helping them pay off their student debt. And it recommends expanding the Maine Seed Capital Tax Credit.

Importantly, it identifies other things like critical infrastructure - expanding broadband with loan guarantees to those providers wanting to invest in internet expansion, particularly in rural Maine. And it calls for a more stable business environment and streamlining of government processes.

While, just like any other state, we have our challenges, we are extraordinary in so many ways.

In a world that is seeking clean, renewable resources, we have abundant forests, wind, water, and sun. We’ve got world-class researchers at the University, at Jackson Labs, at Bigelow, MDI, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and so many more. And innovative companies like Atlantic Sea Farms developing new ways to grow kelp.

We have challenges – but we have a lot going for us, too. With this new economic plan, it is my goal that the State of Maine will be known as a place of innovation and excellence – where people can establish their roots and live happy and fulfilling lives, and where entrepreneurs and innovators start and scale their businesses and create jobs.

I love our state. I love Maine people – and because of them I have such great hope for our future. As we approach Maine’s bicentennial, it is time to build on the foundation of our past two hundred years to create a forward-looking economy for the next two hundred years.

Let’s get moving.

Thank you for listening.

This is Janet Mills, Governor of the great State of Maine.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

This week, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic. The President announced some extraordinary measures to minimize travel and encourage “social distancing.” The NBA suspended games for the rest of its season. So did the Maine Red Claws.

At the time of this recording Friday afternoon, Maine CDC has confirmed two presumptive positive tests for the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19): one woman in her 50s from Androscoggin County who is in self-isolation at her home; and a man in his 50s who was screened at a MaineHealth outpatient clinic and is in self-isolation at home.

I know this news can be concerning, but the Maine CDC has been preparing for COVID-19 cases in our state since the end of last year.

Dr. Nirav Shah, Director of the Maine CDC, has assigned more than 30 of his staff to work on preparedness and response. I have convened a Coronavirus Response Team, composed of key department heads headed by Dr. Shah, to coordinate our state’s preparedness and response efforts. Our Administration has been in constant contact with public health and medical professionals, federal and state, hospital systems, long-term care folks, school officials, EMS, county and local governments, tribal governments, and many others to provide guidance and recommendations.

We are running the tests for this virus through our State laboratory and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this week awarded Maine $4.6 million to help us protect the health of Maine people and our communities. 

This week I also announced other steps.

1. I proclaimed an insurance emergency to improve access to care and to require private health insurance plans to cover costs related to coronavirus testing;
2. I have suspended all non-essential out-of-state work-related travel by State employees; and
3. I have recommended, on the advice of Maine CDC, that non-essential large, indoor gatherings of 250 people or more be postponed in order to delay a potential coronavirus outbreak and to substantially reduce its spread. 

I want to be clear we are not recommending to close Maine schools, although Maine communities may prepare for that possibility. This is a rapidly changing situation and I am continuing to consult with experts at every level on the next best course of action.

Our approach is based on science and fact, not fear. On compassion and caution and the hope that we can as a community limit the impact of COVID-19 on the people of Maine.

Finally,  I want to emphasize the basics once again. 

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds and, if they are not available, soap and water, then use alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Avoid shaking hands as a greeting. I’ve tried to do that myself and it’s not easy, but I am.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick, and stay at home if you are sick.
• Avoid visiting older people or those with chronic health conditions in person to protect their health and safety.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue and throw that tissue in the trash. Wipe down the things you touch often like door handles and phone screens, and cellphones, and home and workplace equipment with those disinfecting wipes.
• If you have a fever, cough, or shortness of breath – which are symptoms of a virus – please stay home and call your doctor’s office. Maine CDC is in touch with medical providers across the state, and they are ready to advise you on the phone about what you might do.
• And if you have recently traveled to Italy, South Korea, China or Iran or have symptoms, stay at home and avoid social contact for 14 days.

If you have general questions about the virus, call 211 or email info@211maine.org to get information at any time of day.

We have planned and prepared for all eventualities and are now focusing on reducing the opportunity for this virus to spread. In the meantime, I ask the people of Maine to continue to do what Maine people have always done: calmly prepare, take care of yourselves, be patient, be cautious and be diligent.

We love you all. Please stay safe. Stay healthy. We will get through this. 

This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

This is the first weekend of our state’s reopening.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Now many people will be able to get health care for the first time in weeks, such important procedures that have been long postponed, a critical change.

Now Maine people can also worship with members of their faith under new guidelines.

These are meaningful first steps towards creating a new normal – a different way of doing business, of shopping, traveling, of worshipping and enjoying the Maine outdoors in ways that will keep us all safe, if we all pull together and follow the rules that are based on fact and science.

We will keep working to answer questions about the plan, and to address especially the needs of small businesses striving to survive in this new pandemic-driven economy.

Our plan is a flexible one and we are always open to constructive dialogue from workers and businesses and members of the public.

Meanwhile, some people say they are frustrated that the State is moving too slowly; they worry about the toll on the summer tourist season.

Others say they want to go back to work but are afraid of having contact with the public, including the people who come here every summer, from Boston, New York, New Jersey and other dangerous hot spots.

Some are engaging in partisan political chatter over this pandemic; but we know this virus plays no favorites: it doesn’t care whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, a Green or an Independent. It does not take political sides; it is an equal opportunity destroyer.

Others still are frustrated that we are opening up any businesses at all, because so many people in our state are older or have an underlying condition that puts them greatly at risk.

They know that more than 3,500 people have died in Massachusetts from this painful virus; more than 18,000 New Yorkers; more than 7,000 New Jersey people; more than 2,200 in Connecticut.

In one day this week, one day alone, 252 people died in Massachusetts – a state that is only fifteen miles from our border.

And in just the last 24 hours, the State of Georgia reported more than one thousand new cases.

That’s why, with every order I have issued and every action I have taken, I have thought long and hard about how Maine people – and Maine businesses -- may be impacted.

The challenges this pandemic poses to us and to our state are unlike anything we have seen in a hundred years.

We can’t simply flip a switch and open up all the restaurants, and bars, and businesses and do business as usual and risk a more aggressive resurgence of this deadly virus that will devastate our entire economy for years to come.

So, let’s continue talking, continue listening, continue being part of the solution.

We continue to collaborate with people from all economic sectors across the state to prepare them to open as soon as they can and as safely as they can. And every day, we are working on that testing capacity issue that is so critical to opening our economy.

This virus sometimes tests the limits of our patience and the limits of our economic stability. Let us show the world who we are. Let us show them that, no matter what the challenge, no matter the difficulty, we will persevere. 

Let’s keep talking.

The last thing any of us want to do is to overwhelm our health care system and put the lives of our brave health care workers and first responders in jeopardy.

But it is because of your actions – and solely because of your actions – that the virus has not destroyed us, that we have kept a measured lid on this insidious disease.

Let’s work harder than ever in these next few months to keep this thing at bay and keep our people – and our economy – safe.

We can do this. I believe in you, in the faith, ingenuity and willpower of the people of Maine. 

Maine people are not quitters.

People may angry and frustrated, some losing patience. But no matter what, we will listen to each other. We will work with each other. We will do everything in our power to keep each other safe. We will never give up on each other, never quit each other.

And I will never quit you.

This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

This week I shared some great news – we have secured a new partnership with IDEXX in Westbrook to provide enough COVID-19 test supplies to more than triple our current testing capacity. 

With this additional capacity the Maine CDC will be able to better gauge the prevalence of the virus throughout the state and, in turn, it opens a new set of possibilities as we examine how to safely restart Maine’s economy. 

That is why this week, I also announced a rural reopening plan aimed at reopening certain additional businesses in more rural parts of our state in the next couple of weeks. 

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

I am referring to counties where community spread is not present and where there are significantly fewer cases — Aroostook, Piscataquis, Washington, Hancock, Somerset, Franklin, Oxford, Kennebec, Waldo, Knox, Lincoln, and Sagadahoc counties. 

In these counties only, starting next Monday, May 11^th, retail stores may open for in-store customers with new health and safety precautions. 

Also in those same twelve counties, beginning Monday, May 18^th, restaurants may open for outdoor dining and for limited dine-in service, also with strict health and safety precautions 

In those same counties as well, beginning Monday, May 18^th, remote campsites and sporting camps are permitted to reopen with certain public health safeguards. 

We are also making small adjustments to the plan statewide as well. 

Fitness and exercise centers will now be allowed open on May 11^th for outdoor classes  of 10 people or less or for one-on-one personal training instruction inside a gym.  

All our health and safety guidelines, formed with consultations with the industries, are found on the Department of Economic and Community Development website at www.maine.gov/decd. 

With these changes, we letting these establishments reopen but not requiring them to. And if you are immuno-compromised, or if you care for someone who is, you should not feel compelled to go back to work or to patronize the businesses. And I urge employers to be flexible with their people when considering reopening.  

For now, retail stores and restaurants in York, Cumberland, Androscoggin, and Penobscot counties – where community transmission of the COVID-19 virus is established – they will not be permitted to reopen to in-store shopping or dine-in service until June 1, the tentative start date for Stage 2.    

These establishments can continue to provide telephone order, curbside pick-up, take-out, and home delivery though. 

Maine CDC will continue to monitor case trends and hospitalization rates, and health care capacity, to inform our decisions on the safety of lifting or reinstating restrictions. 

Ultimately, the success of this rural reopening plan depends on the ability of these businesses to conscientiously follow these health and safety precautions; and the ability of Maine people to strictly adhere to physical distancing, and wear face coverings to protect others, and to continue to practice good hygiene, including washing your hands often with soap and warm water. 

If you are an older Mainer, or someone with an underlying health condition, please continue to stay home as much as possible, regardless of where you live. 

My Administration will continue to work with businesses and various sectors of the economy, solicit feedback, consult with public health experts, and move forward in a thoughtful and deliberate way with public health always as our number one priority. 

I feel like we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. But that tunnel is surely a long one and there are still dark corners before we get to the end.  Let’s take it one step at a time and navigate this storm together.  

On this Mother’s Day weekend, I thank everyone who is listening who is a mother, or a stepmother, or grandmother, thank you for what you do for your families and for all of our communities across the state.

This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

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

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

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

Last month, the number of COVID-19 cases and the number of hospitalizations rose, particularly in southern Maine.

In light of that, we postponed the reopening of restaurants for dine-in service in York, Cumberland, and Androscoggin counties.

Instead, these restaurants were able to continue pickup and delivery food service and outside dining service, but not indoor dining, and that was a change, while it was dramatic and hard, we believed it was safer for the health of Maine people but still helping restaurants do business in at least one way.

That was a difficult decision – something that frustrated many restaurant owners, understandably so.

We also moved ahead with restaurant reopenings for dine-in and outdoor dining in the rest of Maine’s counties as scheduled, including Penobscot County, and we became the first state in New England to allow indoor dining at all.

Since then, the average number of cases in these three counties -Androscoggin, Cumberland and York - has plateaued, and hospitalization rates have stabilized.

In light of those encouraging trends, this week I announced that indoor dining in Androscoggin, Cumberland, and York Counties may voluntarily resume, with the safety and health protocols outlined in the COVID-19 Prevention Checklist.

I also announced that bars, breweries, and tasting rooms may open in Cumberland, York and Androscoggin Counties for outdoor, seated service. Gyms, nail salons, and tattoo parlors can also reopen in those counties, all with health and safety protocols that must be strictly adhered to. Those businesses were already open in the rest of Maine’s 13 counties.

We also expanded capacity limits at retail establishments all across the state, allowing up to 5 people per 1,000 square feet, given the decreasing risk associated with retail shopping and the assumption that stores will follow strict public health precautions, such as keeping six foot distances in lines outside the stores. Stores being places where you move around, it doesn’t pose quite the same risk as indoor dining for instance.   

Well with all these changes, reopenings across the state are aligned in all counties. We have now reopened our economy either on a par or ahead of other northeastern states.

We look at Arizona, Texas and Florida however, and as they report their highest case numbers yet and 22 other states are seeing climbing COVID-19 cases, as we reopen restaurants for indoor dining and other businesses in these areas, we have to remain very careful. We don’t want to make the same mistakes those other states have made.

The experiences in those states are a cautionary tale for Maine.

It is possible, if not likely even, that the changes we made will result in an uptick in cases and we will be keeping a close eye on epidemiological data as we have 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 people come from to visit Maine in the summer.

If a review of the data concerning 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 forward to protect Maine people again.

But the most effective way to make sure that we don’t have to put on restrictions again is to practice good hygiene and take care of yourself.

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. Protecting your customers protects your business as well.

I ask all Maine people, please remember to wash your hands frequently, please 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 cloth face covering when you are out in public.

Recent studies show that those face coverings 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 limit the spread of this dangerous virus as we welcome tourist season in Maine.

It is all up to every one of us.

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