covid and 782 new cases. C1 2 b13 as of today , the number of statewide deaths from covid is 426. The total number of cases in maine to date is 28,407 since march of 2020. There have been 11,690 recoveries. For more information on covid-19, visit the maine c-d- c link at maine dot gov. Northern light health held a virtual panel presentation thursday, showing the latest on covid-19, vaccines, and remote workforce productivity... David horwitz has this report. We are currently in phase 1a of the vaccination roll-out. The first to receive the covid-19 are health care workers and those at resident facilities. But, dr. James jarvis of northern light health says it's not only doctors and nurses who are part of this group. "we need people who clean our rooms. We need people who provide food services to be vaccinated because doctors and nurses cannot do their jobs without them. We need phlebotomist's to be able to draw blood. We need our lab personnel to run our tests. We need our front office staff to get our patients in and out in a professional manner." the moderna and pfizer vaccine's are the two currently on the market and being distributed. However, according to a northern light pharmacist several vaccines are in the works and currently in stage 3 of testing. "moving from phase 1, to larger groups of people phase 2, and then phase 3 which are still ongoing as well. Which represent 10's of thousands of individuals which is more than 70 thousand volunteers where they get safety and effectiveness data that's safe to move into the market." stand-up bridge: - while the vaccine is not mandatory, maine is an at-will work state meaning it can be a condition of employment. Some other benefits are reducing time off work and lower health care expenses. However, covid-19 vaccines do not yet have full fda approval. - vp of talent and diversity says there are several benefits to remote working such as a reduction in absenteeism, increase in productivity, and improved employee retention. / "by in large employees want to be successful. What we found was the employees who were productive at work where at, if not more so, at home." i/m david horwitz, reporting for abc 7 and fox 22 anyone visiting maine is now being encouraged to take an online pledge through the department of tourism -- with the goal of making sure people actually follow the guidelines in place for travel. Maine office of tourism employees say the WEBSITEáá pledge- port- dot- APPáá has a checklist of what is required of visitors like a negative covid test within 72 hours or a 10 day quarantine-- as well as general information about state policies. They say when you sign up-- you can even plug in where you are traveling to-- which will help streamline the process for hotels to see what steps their customers are taking. There's also an accompanying mobile app called getwell loop which helps people track their symptoms. Friends can play a huge role in our lives, influencing our choices, especially for teenagers. Depending on the friend, that influence can be good or bad so that choice of friends can be crucial. Abc news faith uh-boo- bee abubey tells us more. Teenagers are still developing the most advanced parts of their brains--those parts that help make good decisions--and making poor decisions at a young age can prove harmful and long lasting. For some, making the choice to do drugs at a young age can result in future substance abuse and poorer education outcomes. Neuroscientists at the fralin biomedical research institute at virgina tech found that teenagers who have not done drugs can be influenced to continue making safe decisions when they see other teens play it safe. These teenagers' brains are wired to interpret friends' safe decisions like a reward. These safer decisions can benefit them in the long run-- and this is encouraging. Parents can be more confident their teenagers will make better decisions when they spend time with other teenagers who make similarly good decisions. And this can be key in helping the next geneartion of children avoid future substance abuse disorders. With this medical minute, I'm faith abubey when we return devin biggs has your 5-