Maine is beginning to round the corner on the post-holiday surge of COVID-19.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills.

On Thursday, Maine reported a lower positivity rate of 3.64, a decrease from almost six percent on December 31. Maine’s seven-day new case rate has declined by 35 percent in the last two weeks.

All that is good news, although we are very wary about the continuing pandemic, but with the holiday season behind us now and in light of these better numbers, this week we decided to end the 9:00 p.m. early closing time for businesses, effective Monday, February 1.

That early closing time was aimed at reducing the higher risk of COVID-19 transmission during those later indoor entertainment hours when people are more likely to lower their guard and not adhere to basic public health and safety measures.

And it was geared to the holiday season in particular. We were very wary about people getting together in public places and catching the virus.

So that measure, that so called curfew, which is similar to what other states have done, that allowed businesses to keep their doors open during the daytime and evening and allowed curbside pick-up and delivery service before and after 9:00 p.m. We really wanted to keep those businesses viable but at the same time protect the public from the virus.

Starting Monday, those businesses that had been subject to this requirement — restaurants, movie theatres, casinos — they may all resume late evening operating hours if they choose, while continuing to follow basic public health and safety guidelines.

The progress we are making is encouraging, but boy the pandemic is far from over.

Every time we wear our masks, watch our distance, and avoid gatherings, we all help put a lid on this virus and help get our state back on track and back to normal faster. We want Maine people to be healthy. It’s the highest goal we have and our number one focus.

It’s not only the right thing, it’s also the very thing that will bring our economy back. As all the economists tell me: you can’t have a healthy economy if you don’t have healthy people.

We have been luckier than a lot of states.

People have moved here, stayed here, paid taxes here, and enrolled kids in school here because they feel safer here. And we welcome them, we want them to continue living here, working here, shopping here.

For all kinds of reasons, we’ve got to keep our state healthy.

Right now, we are working to get as many vaccines into the arms of Maine people as quickly and efficiently as possible — as of Friday, more than 137,000 people have been vaccinated. But even if you’ve been vaccinated, once or both times, it’s important to keep taking those basic steps that public health experts all advise will keep us all healthy.

Speaking of staying healthy, I want to also acknowledge that President Biden this week announced that his administration is opening a special health care enrollment period for marketplace coverage on HealthCare.gov from February 15 to May 15, extra months to allow people to shop for better health insurance coverage at affordable prices.

I sure welcome this news, and I applaud the President for this decision.

The pandemic has thrown into sharp relief how important it is for Maine people to have affordable health care so they can see a doctor, receive the care they need, and stay healthy.

My Administration has been focusing since day one on making health care more affordable and more accessible to Maine people and businesses – right now for example, more than 70,000 people have health insurance as a result of MaineCare expansion.

With the open special open enrollment period fast approaching, I encourage Maine people who are looking for affordable health insurance to visit CoverME.gov — that’s CoverME.gov — from February 15th to May 15th to learn about coverage options, find local assistance, and think about applying for better, more affordable health insurance.

In the meantime, please stay healthy and stay safe.

This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you so much for listening.