Pen Bay Pilot cites Maginnis in story about UMS COVID-19 sampling
The Penobscot Bay Pilot quoted Melissa Maginnis, a University of Maine associate professor of microbiology and leader of the University of Maine System Scientific Advisory Board, in a story about testing participation and positivity rates following the completion of the second phase of coronavirus sampling across the university system. “The strong participation at all of our campuses during the Phase 1 (arrival) and Phase 2 (follow-up) screening at the start of the semester established a baseline and identified positive cases that were isolated and traced for contacts who were quarantined to contain the virus,” said Maginnis. “The efforts the campuses are making to meet our sampling targets in subsequent rounds are essential to our plans for monitoring COVID-19 throughout the rest of the semester.” Recently completed random sampling yielded a positivity rate of zero % compared to a statewide rate of 0.5%, and a national rate of 5%.