More people were exposed to ticks last summer while social distancing, new report shows

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 24, 2021

Changes in people’s activities during COVID-19, such as spending more time outdoors to avoid close contact with other people, led to more opportunities for tick encounters, according to UMaine’s 2020 annual report from its Tick Surveillance Program. Of the more than 3,000 ticks voluntarily submitted to the program, 36 percent came from people who reported spending more time outdoors in 2020 than they did in 2019, such as in gardening and yard work or in forested habitats.