LYME/OLD LYME — The Daily Data Report for Connecticut issued Friday, April 9, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT-DPH) for data as at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 8, shows that Old Lyme increased by four new cases in its cumulative total of COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began compared with the number reported for Wednesday, April 7.
Meanwhile Lyme held at the same number of cumulative cases as the day before.
Old Lyme reported a total of 321 cases, while Lyme had a total of 98 cumulative cases for the second day in succession.
These Daily Reports are not issued by CT DPH on Saturday or Sundays and therefore Monday’s data includes new cases from both weekend days.
Old Lyme – Increase of Four in Cumulative Cases
The Daily Data Report issued Friday, April 9, for data as at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 8, shows that Old Lyme has a cumulative total (since the outbreak began) of 313 confirmed COVID-19 cases and EIGHT probable cases, making a TOTAL of 321 cases.
This represents an INCREASE of FOUR in the cumulative number of confirmed cases and NO CHANGE in the number of probable cases compared with those reported Thursday, April 8.
The total number of Old Lyme residents tested is 5,001, an increase of 13 over the previous day’s number of 4,977.
Lyme – No Change in Cumulative Cases
The Daily Data Report issued Friday, April 9, shows Lyme has a cumulative total (since the outbreak began) of 90 confirmed cases and 8 probable cases, making a TOTAL of 98 cases.
This represents an INCREASE of ONE in the cumulative number of confirmed cases and a DECREASE of ONE in the number of probable cases compared with those reported Thursday, April 8.
The total number of Lyme residents tested is 1,359, an increase of five over the previous day’s number of 1,354.
Two-Week New Case Rates Show Marginal Improvement for State, Local Towns
The number of towns in the state in the Red (highest) Zone for two-week new case rates has fallen from 146 last week to 142 this week. Old Lyme, which last week was in the Red Zone, is now one of the 10 towns in the Orange (second highest) Zone.
Lyme remains in the Gray Zone for two-week case rates, recording a fourth straight week in the lowest zone. Thirteen towns were in this zone last week and that number is the same this week. (Four zones are specified by the CT DPH — see details below.)
Overall, the number of towns in each zone is shown below with the previous week’s number in parentheses:
- 13 (13) towns are now in the (lowest case rate) Gray Zone
- 4 (2) are in the (lowest but one) Yellow Zone
- 10 (8) are in the (second highest case rate) Orange Zone.
All the remaining 142 towns are in the Red Zone.
Lyme joins 12 other towns in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone: Ashford, Canaan, Chaplin, Chester, Cornwall, Eastford, Franklin, Hampton, New Canaan, Norfolk, Scotland, and Warren.
The Yellow (second lowest rate) Zone now has four towns: Essex, Lisbon, Salem and Willington.
Old Lyme joins nine other towns in the Orange (second highest rate) Zone : Barkhamsted, Canton, East Lyme, Pomfret, Sharon, Simsbury, Stafford, Stonington, and Waterford.
- The gray category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town is less than five or less than five reported cases.
- The yellow category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town is between five and nine reported cases.
- The orange category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town is between 10 and 14.
- The red category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town exceeds 15.
In all cases, this rate does not include cases or tests among residents of nursing home, assisted living, or correctional facilities.
This report is issued daily, but only updated weekly on Thursdays. The most recent report was updated Thursday, April 8; the next updated report will be issued in the afternoon of Thursday, April 15.
More Detail on Two-Week Case Rates
On Thursday, April 8, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) also issued their latest weekly report of COVID data for the municipalities within their District. Ledge Light Director of Health Stephen Mansfield prefaces the report with the comment, “We continue to see relatively steady case numbers within our jurisdiction. Our contact tracers report clusters associated with daycares, schools, and workplaces, and transmissions linked to social gatherings and sporting events.”
He stresses, however, “Although we are making great strides with our COVID vaccination program, it is still imperative that we remain diligent in our mitigation strategies.”
The latest two-week case rates announced Thursday, April 8 (from 3/21 to 4/3) have decreased in both Lyme and Old Lyme.
The two-week case rates are as follows:
- Old Lyme from 15.5 to 12.6
- Lyme from 12.2 to 9.2
The same report shows that the case numbers in Week 1 and Week 2 respectively and recorded for the period 3/21 to 4/3 (compared with the previous two-week case rate for 3/14 to 3/27 shown in parentheses) are as follows:
- Lyme had 2 (2) cases in Week 1 and 1 (2) in Week 2
- Old Lyme had 9 (7) cases in Week 1 and 4 (9) in Week 2
This data was updated April 8, 2021. The next Ledge Light Weekly Data Report for its District will be issued in the afternoon of Thursday, April 15.
Vaccination Rates
At the request of several readers, we have started a new section reflecting the status of community vaccination rates in Lyme and Old Lyme. The data is taken from the COVID-19 Vaccinations by Town report published by CT-DPH, which is published roughly weekly.
Lyme is now ahead of Old Lyme in terms of the percentage of its total population that have received a first dose, with 54.36 percent vaccinated compared with 48.63 percent in Old Lyme.
The percentages for both towns for the age segments 65-74 and 75+ are very encouraging with Lyme now having 105.47 percent of seniors 75 and above having received their first dose and 95.09 percent of the same age segment having received it in Old Lyme.
The detailed data below is the most recent and was updated April 1.
Old Lyme
Total population: 7,306
Estimated population age 65-74: 1,067
Estimated population age 75 and above: 794
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Lyme
Total population: 2,316
Estimated population age 65-74: 372
Estimated population age 75 and above: 274
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Three Fatalities in Old Lyme Since Pandemic Began, None in Lyme
According to the report mentioned above, there have now been THREE fatalities in Old Lyme. Asked Tuesday, Feb. 9, for details of this third fatality, Ledge Light Health Department Director of Health Stephen Mansfield responded, “We have not been notified of any recent deaths in Old Lyme. Keep in mind that that report is compiled by the Connecticut Department of Public Health; deaths are not reportable to local health districts.”
He added, “I can’t speak for their data sources.”
The two fatalities from Old Lyme previously reported in 2020 were a 61-year-old female and an 82-year-old male.
No fatalities have been reported in Lyme.
Connecticut Hospital Occupancy
At the request of several readers, we added a new report showing the respective rates of hospital occupancy at local hospitals. The data for this report is obtained from the Connecticut Hospital Occupancy Report published weekly by the CT DPH and extracted from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) facility-level data for hospital utilization aggregated on a weekly basis (Friday to Thursday).
Since the most recent report is dated Feb. 19 and no subsequent updates have been issued, we have discontinued publishing this report until a new update is issued.
Editor’s Note: The state issues a COVID-19 metric report daily around 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, which includes current data up to the previous evening. In light of the ongoing rise in Coronavirus cases, we publish a new weekday update reporting confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases in Lyme and Old Lyme.