LYME-OLD LYME — The Daily Data Report issued Friday, Nov. 26, at 4 p.m. by the Connecticut Department of Health (CT DPH) shows two new, confirmed COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme taking that town’s total of cumulative cases to 474 and one new case in Lyme, raising that town’s cumulative total to 134.
Moreover, in a serious turn of events, Old Lyme has re-entered the Red Zone in the weekly COVID-19 Average Daily Case Rate Report issued by the state on Nov. 26. This is the first time Old Lyme has been in the Red (highest) Zone since Sept. 30, 2021. Lyme remains in the Gray (lowest) Zone, where it has been since Sept. 30, 2021.
The number of towns statewide in the Red Zone has increased dramatically in the past two weeks with 67 towns in it last week and 110 this week. To give a further indication of the significance of the increase, the number of towns in the Red Zone on Oct. 7, 2021 was down to 37.
All the towns in the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) are in the Red Zone, except Lyme.
Old Lyme joins the following towns in the Red Zone:
Ansonia, Ashford, Barkhamsted, Bethany, Bethlehem, Bozrah, Branford, Bridgewater, Bristol, Brooklyn, Burlington, Canterbury, Chaplin, Cheshire, Chester, Colchester, Colebrook, Columbia, Cornwall, Coventry, Cromwell, Darien, Derby, East Haddam, East Hampton, East Haven, East Lyme, East Windsor, Eastford, Easton, Enfield, Fairfield, Franklin, Goshen, Granby, Greenwich, Griswold, Groton, Hampton, Hartland, Harwinton, Hebron, Killingly, Lebanon, Ledyard, Lisbon, Litchfield, Madison, Marlborough, Meriden, Middlebury, Middlefield, Middletown, Milford, Monroe, Montville, Morris, Naugatuck, New Britain, New Canaan, New Hartford, New Haven, New London, New Milford, North Branford, North Canaan, North Stonington, Norwich, Orange, Oxford, Plainfield, Plainville, Plymouth, Pomfret, Portland, Preston, Prospect, Putnam, Rocky Hill, Roxbury, Salem, Seymour, Shelton, Somers, Southbury, Southington, Sprague, Stafford, Sterling, Stonington, Suffield, Thomaston, Thompson, Torrington, Trumbull, Union, Voluntown, Wallingford, Warren, Waterbury, Waterford, Watertown, Wethersfield, Winchester, Windham, Wolcott, Woodbridge, Woodbury and Woodstock.
Details of the Zones are as follows:
- 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.
Prior to Monday, Nov. 22, when two new cases were reported, Lyme had previously gone 35 days in succession without reporting a single new case.
This means the cumulative total of confirmed cases for Old Lyme has now increased by 31 since Wednesday, Nov. 10, when the total stood at 443.
On Aug. 26 — which was the day Lyme-Old Lyme Schools started the new academic year — Old Lyme’s cumulative case total stood at 372, meaning there have now been 102 new cases there since that date. Meanwhile, Lyme’s cumulative total on Aug. 26 was 114 indicating 20 new cases have also been confirmed there during the same period.
In an email sent Wednesday, Nov. 24, regarding the latest COVID-19 data, LLHD Director of Health Steven Mansfield states, “The number of new COVID cases within our jurisdiction continues to increase, which is consistent with an increase in COVID cases statewide, according to DPH data. Unfortunately, we expect this trend to continue as we move into the holiday season.”
He continues, “LLHD continues to focus our vaccination efforts on homebound populations and providing boosters to individuals who were vaccinated previously,” adding, “It is imperative that we remain diligent in our mitigation strategies. We strongly advise everyone to continue to wear masks indoors in public settings, regardless of vaccination status.”
The state does not issue reports over the weekend nor on public holidays. The next report from CT DPH will be issued Monday, Nov. 29, at around 4 p.m.
COVID-19 Cases in Lyme-Old Lyme Schools
This is the latest information that we have with the most recent cases first — there may have been further updates, however, which we have not yet received.
On Tuesday, Nov. 23, Lyme-Old Lyme Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser informed the school community that a positive case of COVID-19 impacting Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) had been reported.
On Monday, Nov. 22, Neviaser informed the school community that a positive case of COVID-19 impacting Mile Creek School had been reported.
On Thursday, Nov. 18, Neviaser informed the school community that a positive case of COVID-19 impacting LOLHS had been reported.
On Wednesday, Nov. 17, Neviaser informed the school community that a positive case of COVID-19 impacting LOLHS had been reported.
On Sunday, Nov. 14, Neviaser informed the school community that over the weekend a positive case of COVID-19 impacting LOLHS had been reported.
On Wednesday, Oct. 20, Neviaser informed the school community that a positive case of COVID-19 impacting LOLHS had been reported.
On Wednesday, Oct. 5, Neviaser informed the school community that a positive case of COVID-19 impacting LOLHS had been reported the previous evening.
On Thursday, Oct. 23, Neviaser informed the school community of two intrafamilial positive cases of COVID-19 impacting Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School (LOLMS.) He stated, “We were able to complete our contact tracing and the one individual who must quarantine has been notified.”
On Thursday, Sept. 23, Neviaser informed the school community of two intrafamilial positive cases of COVID-19 impacting LOLMS. He noted, “We were able to complete our contact tracing and the one individual who must quarantine has been notified.”
On Wednesday, Sept. 22, Neviaser informed the school community of a positive case of COVID-19 impacting LOLHS.
On Thursday, Sept. 16, Neviaser informed the school community that a previously reported positive case of COVID-19 is now impacting Mile Creek School and Center School.
On Monday, Sept. 13, Neviaser informed the school community that a positive case of COVID-19, which had been reported the previous day, was impacting LOLMS.
On Wednesday, Sept. 1, Neviaser informed the school community that a positive case of COVID-19 was impacting Mile Creek School.
On Tuesday, Aug. 31, Neviaser informed the school community that late on Monday, Aug. 30, a positive case of COVID-19 impacting LOLHS had been reported.
On Saturday, Aug. 28, Neviaser informed the school community that late on Friday, Aug. 27, a positive case of COVID-19 impacting Lyme School had been reported.
In all cases, contact tracing was completed and those individuals who needed to quarantine were notified. They will be able to return to school following their quarantine period. All other students and staff will continue to attend school as scheduled.
Fatalities Due to COVID-19 in Lyme, Old Lyme
There has been one COVID-related fatality of a Lyme resident: a 57-year-old male passed away Nov. 16, 2021. The state has yet to include this fatality in its data. We have asked Director of Health Steven Mansfield for an explanation of this but have not received a response to date.
Three COVID-related fatalities have been reported in Old Lyme. The first two fatalities from Old Lyme, which were reported in 2020, were a 61-year-old female and an 82-year-old male.
Details of the third, which was reported in 2021, have not been made available.