LYME/OLD LYME — Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) reported a new confirmed case of COVID-19 in Lyme in their COVID-19 summary for the week ending Oct. 23, which was published Friday evening.
This latest cases in Lyme is a 51-year-old female.
No new cases in Old Lyme were reported.
The total number of cases in Lyme now rises to 11 and comprises five females and six males ranging in age from one- to 68-years-old. There have been no fatalities in Lyme.
The total number of cases in Old Lyme remains at 32 including two fatalities. The number of surviving cases in Old Lyme now comprises 15 males and 15 females ranging in age from 19- to 82-years-old. The two fatalities were a 61-year-old female and an 82-year-old male.
Stephen Mansfield, LLHD Director of Health, introduced Friday evening’s report, which covers all the towns in the LLHD and includes Lyme and Old Lyme, with these words, “Although we are pleased to see that our cases have declined since last week, please keep in mind that one week of data can be misleading; it is imperative that we continue to be diligent in our efforts to reduce COVID transmissions.”
He continues, “Our contact tracers continue to report that they have observed many instances of family and social gathering connections. We are also seeing a significant number of cases associated with sporting events.”
Mansfield notes, however, “Cases associated with institutions (schools, long-term care facilities, etc.) remain relatively low.”
Ledge Light Health District states their data may conflict with the data DPH reports on their website, as there is often a delay in posting data at the state level. The data LLHD reports is current as of noon on the Friday on which it is issued. The CT DPH is currently reporting 37 confirmed cases in Old Lyme on the CT Open Data website. We asked Mansfield to explain the possible reasons for this discrepancy and he responded this morning (Saturday), “Unfortunately I do not have answers … We report what is reported to us.”
Gender and age details of the confirmed cases in Lyme to date are:
- Male, age 34
- Female, age 61
- Female, age 34
- Male, age 1
- Male, age 34
- Male, age 20
- Male, aged 68
- Female, age 21
- Female, age 62
- Male, age unknown
- Female, age 51
To demonstrate the growth in confirmed COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme, the table below is a summary of the cases that LymeLine.com has reported since March 31 when the first case was announced and also includes both fatalities.
[table id=3 /]
Details of all Old Lyme’s confirmed surviving cases to date are as follows:
- Female, age 64
- Female, age 21
- Male, age 27
- Female, age 53
- Female, age 61
- Female, age 29
- Male, age 40
- Male, age 53
- Female, age 60
- Male, age 45
- Female, age 20
- Female, age 43
- Female, age 48
- Male, age 70
- Male, age 67
- Female, age 68
- Male, age 50
- Male, age 21
- Female, age 48
- Female, age 34
- Male, age 20
- Male, age 28
- Male, age 74
- Male, age 61
- Female, age 19
- Male, age 31
- Female, age 25
- Male, age 61
- Male, age 35
- Female, age 38
Old Lyme First Selectman Timothy Griswold has previously noted that the 21-year-old female with a confirmed case (#2 in the list immediately above) was tested in Florida, but used an Old Lyme address although she does not live here. Because she gave the Old Lyme address, Griswold said that LLHD must report her as an Old Lyme resident.
Residents and businesses are urged to access up-to-date information regarding the pandemic from reputable sources including the Ledge Light Health District website (www.llhd.org), Facebook (@LedgeLightHD), Twitter (@LedgeLightHD), and Instagram (@LedgeLightHD).
Editor’s Note: Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) serves as the local health department in southeast Connecticut for the towns of Lyme and Old Lyme as well as East Lyme, Groton, Ledyard, New London, North Stonington, Stonington and Waterford. As a health district, formed under Connecticut General Statutes Section 19a-241, LLHD is a special unit of government, allowing member municipalities to provide comprehensive public health services to residents in a more efficient manner by consolidating the services within one organization.
CT DPH has identified over 15 Red Alert towns in CT. In SE CT, that list now includes Groton, New London, and Waterford. “Red Alert’ Towns have new COVID case rates that exceed 15 COVID cases per 100,000 population, per day.
Those towns require more PH surveillance, and may need to revert to CT’s Phase Two reopening guidelines. “High risk individuals should stay home”. In addition. the State’s positivity rate, which had been usually below 1 percent in the summer, began to rise in early September, and on this past Tuesday, hit a four-month high of 3 percent. Hospitalizations have also begun to rise, hitting a four-month high on Tuesday.
You can review CT DPH’s recommended restrictions for those Red Alert towns at: https://portal.ct.gov/DPH/Communications/Disease-Preparedness/CT-COVID-19-Municipal-Level-Alert
So, continue to do the easy stuff: wear a mask, observe social distancing protocols, wash your hands frequently. and avoid dense crowds, especially indoors.