I am in the sixth grade at Hall-Dale Middle School. In May, my dad and I wanted to see how well Maine was doing to prevent coronavirus deaths, and I wrote you a letter about my findings (“How Maine compares on COVID,” May 17). Then, Maine ranked 15th in the nation and placed 28th in all of Europe — right in the middle. At that time, I thought it would be good to update our performance later in the year.

We have now gone through the holiday season. Now, Maine’s death rate is 24 per 100,000. Maine has a lower death rate than all states except Vermont and Hawaii. We also have a lower death rate than all but five European countries.

I think Maine has done pretty well!

Thank you to everybody who wore a mask and helped with this improvement. Let’s keep it up! Stay safe!

Graham Iyer

Hallowell