LYME-OLD LYME — The Daily Data Report issued Tuesday, Dec. 14, at 4 p.m. by the Connecticut Department of Health (CT DPH) shows four new, confirmed COVID-19 case in Old Lyme taking the
town’s total of cumulative cases to 541.
No new cases were reported in Lyme, keeping that town’s cumulative total at 140.
The state does not issue reports over the weekend nor on public holidays. The next report from CT DPH will be issued Wednesday, Dec. 15, at around 4 p.m.
This past week, between the state’s reporting days of Friday, Dec. 3, and Friday, Dec. 10, a total of 31 new cases were reported in Old Lyme. During the same period, Lyme reported three new cases.
The Monday, Dec. 6 case total of 18 was the highest single-day increase in Old Lyme since the first case was recorded in town on March 31, 2020.
The previous highest number was 17, which was recorded Nov. 6, 2020.
As we reported in our Thursday, Dec. 9 weekly COVID-19 Update, Lyme and Old Lyme are now in the Red Zone in the weekly COVID-19 Average Daily Case Rate Report issued by the state on that day. The CT DPH will issue an updated map of the zones Thursday, Dec. 9 — the map is updated weekly on Thursdays.
The number of towns statewide in the Red Zone has increased dramatically in the past two weeks with 135 towns in it last week and 162 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.
The cumulative total of confirmed cases for Old Lyme has now increased by 98 since Wednesday, Nov. 10, when the total stood at 443 — that number had stood unchanged for a week since the previous Thursday, Nov. 4.
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 165 new cases there since that date. Meanwhile, Lyme’s cumulative total on Aug. 26 was 114 indicating 26 new cases have also been confirmed there during the same period.
In an email sent Thursday, Dec. 9, regarding the latest COVID-19 data, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) Deputy Director of Health Jennifer Muggeo stated, “There is a sharp increase in the number of new COVID cases within our jurisdiction, 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.”
She added, “LLHD continues to focus our vaccination efforts on homebound populations and providing initial vaccinations and boosters to individuals who were vaccinated previously. Information about vaccination opportunities can be found at https://llhd.org/coronavirus-covid-19-situation/covid-19-vaccine/
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.”
COVID-19 Cases in Lyme-Old Lyme Schools
This is the latest information that we have with the most recent case first — there may have been further updates, however, which we have not yet received.
On Monday, Dec. 13, Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser informed the school community that a positive case of COVID-19 impacting Mile Creek School had been reported.
On Thursday, Dec. 9, Neviaser informed the school community that a total of three positive cases of COVID-19 impacting Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School (LOLMS), Center School, and Lyme School respectively had been reported.
On Monday, Dec. 6, Neviaser informed the school community that a positive case of COVID-19 impacting Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School (LOLMS) had been reported.
On Friday, Dec. 3, Neviaser informed the school community that a positive case of COVID-19 impacting Center School had been reported.
On Monday, Nov. 30, 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. 29, Neviaser informed the school community that a positive case of COVID-19 impacting Mile Creek School had been reported.
On Tuesday, Nov. 23, Neviaser informed the school community that a positive case of COVID-19 impacting 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 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. On Nov. 30, the state finally included this fatality in its data
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.