LYME/OLD LYME — The report issued Thursday, May 27, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) for the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks shows another dramatic improvement for the state as whole with the number of towns remaining in the Red Zone (indicating the highest COVID-19 new case rates) down to just one from last week’s number of eight.
The lone town still in the Red Zone is Putnam, which reported 19 cases in the past 14 days.
Both Lyme and Old Lyme remain in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone for two-week new case rates.
It is the third week for Old Lyme in that Zone, but Lyme is in the Gray Zone for an 11th straight week. It is very encouraging to see this number increase from 80 towns last week to 110 this week.
Neither Lyme nor Old Lyme reported any new cases in the May 27 report meaning Lyme holds steady at 107 cases and Old Lyme at 342.
Compare the map above with the one we published Dec. 18, 2020 to see the remarkable progress that has been made with controlling the spread of the virus through expansion of vaccination rates and improved mitigation strategies.
The 48 (down from 61 last week) towns in the Yellow (second lowest rate) Zone are: Ansonia, Barkhamsted, Beacon Falls, Bolton, Bridgeport, Bristol, Brooklyn, Cheshire, Clinton, Danbury, Derby, East Haven, East Lyme, Enfield, Glastonbury, Granby, Hamden, Killingly, Litchfield, Manchester, Meriden, Middletown, Monroe, Montville, Naugatuck, New Fairfield, New Haven, New London, North Haven, Norwalk, Norwich, Plainfield, Rocky Hill, Shelton, Stamford, Stratford, Suffield, Thomaston, Thompson, Tolland, Vernon, Wallingford, Waterford, West Haven, Westbrook, Winchester, Windham and Windsor
The Orange (second highest rate) Zone now has 10 (down from 20 last week) towns, which are: Bloomfield, Coventry, Cromwell, East Hartford, Hartford, Ledyard, New Britain, Salem, Waterbury and Willington.
- 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.
Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) also issued their latest weekly report of COVID data for the municipalities within their District.
North Stonington now joins Lyme and Old Lyme as the only towns in the nine-town district, which are reported to have less than five new cases in the past two weeks.
Ledge Light Director of Health Stephen Mansfield prefaces the report with the comment, “We are happy to see a continued decrease in the number of new cases throughout our jurisdiction and encourage everyone to get vaccinated! Most of the clusters reported by our contact tracers are associated with sporting events or family gatherings.”
Mansfield also notes, “The demand for vaccine is declining, and many providers are reporting that they have unfilled vaccination appointments at scheduled clinics. At this time, LLHD is vaccinating all individuals 18 and older.”
He adds, “Information regarding vaccination opportunities and other relevant information can be found at https://llhd.org/coronavirus-covid-19-situation/covid-19-vaccine/
The following link provides centralized access to Connecticut COVID data: https://data.ct.gov/stories/s/COVID-19-data/wa3g-tfvc/
Vaccination rates in Lyme and Old Lyme are also extremely encouraging with 79.4 percent of the population in Lyme having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and the equivalent number for Old Lyme being 71.15 percent.
These are some of the highest percentages in the state.