The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Maine has fallen below 150 for the first time since April.

Maine reported a total of 139 hospitalizations Wednesday morning, including 19 in critical care and five on ventilators, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That number is down from 153 on Tuesday and down 40 percent from May 17, when Maine reported a three-month peak of 231 hospitalized patients.

The latest omicron subvariants are still circulating in the state and people who are unvaccinated or at higher risk because of their ages or medical conditions can still end up needing hospital care, health officials warn. But hospital patient counts are falling as other signs also point to a continued easing of infection rates in Maine.

The state reported 319 new COVID cases Wednesday, bringing the seven-day average down to 258. The state was reporting an average of more than 800 new cases a day in early May.

The rate of positive tests submitted to the state and the percentage of all tests that come back positive also have steadily declined over the past four weeks. And wastewater tests also continue to show a general decline in virus levels around the state.

Maine, which had the nation’s highest infection rate a month ago, now has a rate that is well below the national average and one of the lowest in the Northeast.

Maine has recorded 151 new COVID cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The national seven-day infection rate is 230 cases per 100,000 people.

No additional deaths were reported by the Maine CDC on Wednesday. Since the pandemic began, Maine has recorded 265,242 cases and 2,400 deaths.