COVID-19 hospitalizations continued to decline on Wednesday, with 249 people needing care, down from 260 the previous day, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The statistics show 63 people in intensive care and 29 on ventilators. Nine additional deaths were reported, including two people in their 20s. Other deaths included two people in their 70s, two in their 50s and two in their 30s. One was in their 40s.

All of them were men. Two lived in Cumberland County, two in Penobscot County and one each in York, Androscoggin, Kennebec, Somerset and Washington counties.

The state reported 3,556 new cases of COVID on Wednesday as it continues to clear a backlog of thousands of cases. A spokesman for the Maine CDC said earlier this week that the most accurate way to track the spread of the virus is deaths, hospitalizations and wastewater test results.

Since the pandemic began in Maine in March 2020, there have been 202,221 cases, with 148,720 confirmed and 53,501 listed as probable. Deaths stand at 1,858.