LYME/OLD LYME —The Daily Data Report for Connecticut issued Friday, May 7, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health(CT-DPH) for data as at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, May 6, shows that Old Lyme increased by one new COVID-19 case since the previous day to 341 while Lyme held at its previous day’s cumulative total of 106.
These Daily Reports are not issued by CT DPH on Saturdays or Sundays and therefore Monday’s data includes new cases from both weekend days. The next new report will be issued in the afternoon of Monday, May 10.
Old Lyme – Cumulative Cases Up One
The May 7 Daily Data Report for Connecticut for data as at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, May 6, shows that Old Lyme has a cumulative total (since the outbreak began) of 330 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 11 probable cases, making a TOTAL of 341 cases.
This represents an INCREASE of ONE in the cumulative number of confirmed cases and NO CHANGE in the number of probable cases compared with those reported the previous day.
The total number of Old Lyme residents tested is 5,202, an increase of nine over the previous day’s number of 5,193.
Lyme – No Change in Cumulative Cases
Lyme has a cumulative total (since the outbreak began) of 98 confirmed cases and 8 probable cases, making a TOTAL of 106 cases.
This represents NO CHANGE in the cumulative number of confirmed or probable cases compared with those reported the previous day, and represents the third consecutive reporting day with this number.
The total number of Lyme residents tested is 1,397, which represents an increase of two over the previous day’s number of 1,397.
Two-Week New Case Rates Zones: Old Lyme in Yellow, Lyme in Gray
The report issued Thursday, May 6, 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 major improvement for the state as whole with the number of towns remaining in the Red Zone (indicating the highest COVID-19 new case rates) falling to 54 from last week’s number of 97.
During a news conference held Thursday, May 6, Gov. Ned Lamont attributed the decrease in infections to the continuing roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine.
Both Lyme and Old Lyme remain in the zones in which they were placed last week with Old Lyme still in the Yellow (second lowest new case rate) Zone while Lyme remains in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone.
Old Lyme is now one of the 31 towns in the Yellow Zone. Last week, there were 18 towns in this Zone, so this is encouraging news as more towns fall out of the Orange (second highest) Zone.
Lyme is in the Gray Zone for two-week new case rates, recording an eighth straight week in the lowest zone. Twenty-two towns were in this zone last week and, in more good news, this number has increased to 29 this week.
In both cases, the increased total in each Zone reflects a decreased new case rate. (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:
- 29 (22) towns are now in the (lowest case rate) Gray Zone
- 31 (18) are in the (lowest but one) Yellow Zone
- 55 (32) are in the (second highest case rate) Orange Zone.
All the remaining 54 towns are in the Red Zone — last week’s number was 97.
Lyme joins 21 other towns in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone: Andover, Bozrah, Bridgewater, Canaan, Chaplin, Chester, Colebrook, Cornwall, Deep River, East Granby, Essex, Franklin, Hampton, Kent, Lisbon, Lyme, Middlefield, Norfolk, Pomfret, Roxbury, Salisbury, Scotland, Sharon, Union, Warren, Washington, Weston, Westport and Willington.
Old Lyme joins 30 other towns in the Yellow (second lowest rate) Zone: Avon, Brooklyn, Clinton, Colchester, Columbia, Darien, Durham, East Haddam, East Hampton, East Lyme, Easton, Glastonbury, Granby, Griswold, Killingworth, Ledyard, Marlborough, New Fairfield, New Hartford, Newington, Portland, Preston, Rocky Hill, Somers, Southbury, Stonington, Tolland, West Hartford, Woodbridge and Woodbury
The Orange (second highest rate) Zone now has 55 towns : Ashford, Beacon Falls, Berlin, Bethany, Bethel, Bethlehem, Bloomfield, Bolton, Branford, Brookfield, Canterbury, Canton, Cheshire, Coventry, Danbury, Ellington, Fairfield, Farmington, Goshen, Greenwich, Groton, Guilford, Haddam, Harwinton, Lebanon, Litchfield, Madison, Mansfield, Montville, New Canaan, New Milford, North Canaan, North Haven, North Stonington, Old Saybrook, Oxford, Redding, Ridgefield, Salem, Simsbury, South Windsor, Sprague, Stafford, Suffield, Thompson, Vernon, Voluntown, Waterford, Westbrook, Wethersfield, Wilton, Winchester, Windsor, Windsor Locks and Woodstock.
- 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, May 6; the next updated report will be issued in the afternoon of Thursday, May 13.
More Detail on Two-Week Case Rates: Old Lyme Down, Lyme Up
On Thursday, May 6, 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, “Although the number of new cases remain relatively stable, our contact tracers continue to report clusters, especially those associated with 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 Average Daily Case Rate announced Thursday, May 6, (from 4/18 to 5/01) have stayed constant in Old Lyme but decreased in Lyme.
The two-week case rates are as follows:
- Old Lyme from 9.7 to 9.7
- Lyme from 9.2 to 6.1
The same report shows that the case numbers in Week 1 and Week 2 respectively and recorded for the period 4/18 to 5/01 (compared with the previous two-week case rate shown in parentheses) are as follows:
- Lyme had 2 (1) case in Week 1 and 0 (2) in Week 2
- Old Lyme had 7 (3) cases in Week 1 and 3 (7) in Week 2
This data was updated May 6. The next Ledge Light Weekly Data Report for its District will be issued in the afternoon of Thursday, May 13.
Vaccination Rates
Lyme is ahead of Old Lyme in terms of the percentage of its total population that have received a first dose, with 74.65 (72.06) percent vaccinated compared with 65.56 (63.89) percent in Old Lyme. The previous week’s percentages are shown in parentheses.
The percentages for both towns for the age cohort 65+ are very encouraging with Lyme now having 100 percent of seniors 65 and above fully vaccinated while 97.69 (92.85) percent of the same age cohort are fully vaccinated in Old Lyme.
The percentages for the age cohort 45-64, however, show the numbers reversing with Old Lyme having 57.66 percent fully vaccinated marginally ahead of Lyme at 53.91 percent.
Regarding the age 15-44 cohort, Lyme comes back into the lead again with 37.71 percent fully vaccinated while Old Lyme stands at 33.99 percent.
The state changed its reporting format for vaccination rates on April 15 and their new data does not align precisely with the former data. The detailed data below was partly updated April 29. One change is that the state is now reporting 65 and above as one group, whereas it was previously split into 65-74 and 75 and above. We will present new vaccination rate tables shortly.
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 have 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).
The most recent report is dated Feb. 19 and covers the two-week period from 2/12 to 2/18. No subsequent updates have been issued.
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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.