LYME-OLD LYME —The Daily Data Report issued Tuesday, March 15, 2022, around 4 p.m. by the Connecticut Department of Health (CT DPH) shows no new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme keeping the town’s cumulative case total at 1045.
The cumulative case total in Lyme has been reduced to 255. Our experience is that a reduction in the total is generally an error, which will be corrected in a day or two. For our reporting purposes, we are going to say that this is the 11th consecutive day on which no new cases have been reported. We will not adjust our numbers to reflect the reduction yet on the assumption it will be corrected.
The most recent days that no new cases were reported in either Lyme or Old Lyme were March 9, March 4, and Feb. 24. The previous time prior to Feb. 24 when no new cases were reported in either town was Dec. 12, 2021.
The next Daily Data Report will be issued by CT DPH Wednesday, March 16, around 4 p.m.
Statewide Situation – Daily Update
The state’s COVID-19 Daily Positivity Rate on Tuesday, March 15, increased marginally from 2.57% on March 15 to 2.88%. The March 10 rate of 1.79% was the first time the positivity rate had fallen below 2.0 since Oct. 7, 2021 according to our records, when it was 1.70%.
On March 15, the number of COVID-related hospitalizations decreased by 8 from 121 to 113.
Of those hospitalized that day, 42 (representing 37.2%) are not fully vaccinated.
The total number of COVID-related deaths in Connecticut rose to 10,675, according to the New York Times.
Statewide Situation – Weekly Update
In extremely encouraging news, the March 10 COVID Case Rate map shows that the total number of towns in the Red (highest) Zone for case rates has fallen by 11 since last week to 12. This reflects a dramatic fall in the number of towns in the Red Zone since late January. On Jan. 27, the total was 168 out of 169 towns and by Feb. 17, the total was 153. By Feb. 24, it had fallen to 87, and last week on March 3, the total was 23.
The March 10 total of 12 is equivalent to 7.1% of towns in the state, which remain in the Red Zone.
As of March 10, only two towns in the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) remain in the Red Zone: East Lyme and New London. Four are in the Orange (second highest) Zone: Old Lyme, Ledyard, Stonington and Waterford. Two are in the Yellow (second lowest), and Lyme remains in the Gray (lowest) Zone.
This is the first time Old Lyme has fallen out of the Red (highest) Zone for 15 consecutive weeks.
When looking at the weekly report dated March 10 for the nine member towns of the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD), Old Lyme has the third equal highest Daily Case Rate at 12.7% behind East Lyme at 19.3% and New London at 31.4%.
In contrast, however, Lyme, is in 9th and lowest place for Daily Case Rates at 0% with less than five cases reported in the past two weeks.
The next weekly LLHD report will be issued Thursday, March 17.
The CT DPH will issue an updated map of the zones Thursday, March 17 — the map is updated weekly on Thursdays.
The color-coded zones are:
Red: Indicates case rates over the last two weeks of greater than 15 per 100,000 population
Orange: Indicates case rates between 10 to 14 cases per 100,000 population
Yellow: Indicates case rates between 5 and 9 per 100,000 population
Gray: Indicates case rates lower than five per 100,000 population
Extracts from the Feb. 24, 2022 CT DPH report
As of March 9, 2022: (the number in parentheses is from March 2, 2022)
Number of cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut: 174,207 (172,677)
Number of fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut: 2,679,485 (2,668,072)
Percent of fully vaccinated persons, who have contracted COVID-19: 6.5% (6.47%)
For the week beginning Feb. 27, 2022: (the number in parentheses is from Feb. 20, 2022)
Risk of unvaccinated persons testing positive for COVID-19 as compared to fully vaccinated persons: 2.4 x greater (3.1 x greater)
Risk of unvaccinated persons dying from COVID-19 as compared to fully vaccinated persons: 15.9 x greater (17.5 x greater)
Increase in Cases in Lyme & Old Lyme Since August 2021
The cumulative total of confirmed cases for Old Lyme has now increased by 602 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 673 new cases there since that date. Meanwhile, Lyme’s cumulative total on Aug. 26 was 114 indicating 142 new cases have also been confirmed there during the same period.
Ledge Light Health District Update
Two towns (East Lyme and New London) in the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD), of which both Lyme and Old Lyme are members, are in the Red Zone. In the past two weeks, Lyme has had less than 5 new cases while Old Lyme has reported 13 — the previous week’s numbers were respectively less than 5 and 30.
In an email sent Thursday, March 10, regarding the latest COVID-19 data, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) Director of Health Stephen Mansfield states, “Based on surveillance data available in a new tool created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called COVID-19 Community Levels, the municipalities within Ledge Light Health District (and all of New London County) are currently classified as low, the “best” classification available based on these new metrics.”
He continues, “Community Levels can be low, medium, or high and are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID cases in a specific geographical area. CDC recommends taking precautions to protect yourself and others from COVID based on Community Levels in your area.”
He adds, “In New London County, residents are advised to:
- Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines
- Get tested if you have symptoms
View the new tool by following this link: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html.
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/.”
An explanation of the new tool by Thomas Gotowka can be found at this link.
COVID testing opportunities can be found at COVID-19 Testing | Ledge Light Health District (llhd.org)
The following link provides centralized access to Connecticut COVID data: https://data.ct.gov/stories/s/COVID-19-data/wa3g-tfvc/
The next Ledge Light update is due Thursday, March 17, 2022.
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
Four COVID-related fatalities have now 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 and fourth fatalities, which were reported respectively in 2021 and on Feb. 4, 2022, have not been made available.
Lyme-Old Lyme Schools Update
Under new state protocols for schools, Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools are no longer required to carry out contact tracing , but LOL Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser said in a Feb. 17 email to the school community that, “Through the end of March we will continue to send daily COVID-19 case numbers for those who are interested in tracking this information.”
He added, “Beginning in April, we will report these numbers on a weekly basis.”
A full listing of all LOL Schools-related cases during 2022 is given below.
During Winter Break for LOL Schools, no case reporting was announced until Monday, Feb. 28. Schools are now back in session. One new case was reported on March 2 and another on March 3. In further good news, no new cases were reported on March 4, or March 7-12. One new case was reported on each day of March 13 and 14.
Lyme-Old Lyme Schools closed Dec. 23, 2021 and reopened Monday, Jan. 3, 2022 after the winter break meaning no new cases were reported by the schools during that period. We are no longer including positive cases impacting LOL schools between Aug 26, 2021 (the first day of the 2021-22 academic school year) and Dec. 23, 2021 (the last day of school before winter break began), in this report. During that period contact tracing was still required.
View the full listing of cases during that period (8/26/21 – 12/23/21) at this link.
The listing below 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.
The following abbreviations are used in the lists below: LOLHS: Lyme-Old Lyme High School, LOLMS: Lyme-Old Lyme
Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School, CS: MC: Mile Creek School, and Center School Pre-Kindergarten
Monday, March 14
Total: CS: 1
Sunday, March 13
Total: LOLHS: 1
Thursday, March 3
Total: LOLHS: 1
Wednesday, March 2
Total: LOLHS: 1
FEBRUARY 2022
Friday, Feb. 18: Total: LOLMS: 1, MC: 1
Thursday, Feb. 17: Total: 1, MC: 1
Wednesday, Feb. 16: Total: 6, LOLMS: 3
Monday, Feb. 14: Total: 6, LOLMS: 2, MC: 3, Lyme: 1
Sunday, Feb. 13: Total: 3, LOLMS: 2, MC: 1
Friday, Feb. 11: Total: 2, LOLHS: 1, CS: 1
Thursday, Feb. 10: Total: 2, Lyme: 1, CS: 1
Wednesday, Feb. 9: Total: 2, LOLHS: 1, MC: 1
Tuesday, Feb. 8: Total: 0
Monday, Feb. 7: Total: 3, Lyme: 1, MC: 1, CS: 1
Sunday, Feb. 6:Total: 2, LOLMS: 1, MC: 1
Friday, Feb. 4: Total: 5, LOLHS: 2, LOLMS: 1, MC: 2
Thursday, Feb. 3: Total: 1, Lyme: 1
Wednesday, Feb. 2: Total: 3, MC: 3
Tuesday, Feb. 1: Total: 1, MC: 1
JANUARY 2022
Monday, 1/31: Total: 2, LOLMS: 1, Lyme: 1
Sunday, 1/30: Total: 1, Lyme: 1
Friday, 1/28: Total: 3, LOLHS: 1, LOLMS: 1, MC: 1
Thursday, 1/27: Total: 3, LOLHS: 1, Lyme: 2
Wednesday, 1/26: Total: 3, LOLHS: 1, MC: 2
Tuesday, 1/25: Total: 4, LOLMS: 2, MC: 2
Monday, 1/24:Total: 9, LOLHS: 2, LOLMS: 1, Lyme: 1, MC: 4, CS: 1
Sunday, 1/23:Total: 3, LOLMS: 1, Lyme: 2
Friday, 1/21:Total: 8, LOLHS: 4, LOLMS: 2, MC: 2
Thursday, 1/20: Total: 5, LOLMS: 1, MC: 1, Lyme: 3
Wednesday, 1/19: Total: 7, LOLHS: 2, LOLMS: 4, CS: 1
Tuesday, 1/18: Total: 7, LOLHS: 3, LOLMS: 2, MC: 2
Monday, 1/17: Total: 6, Lyme: 4, MC: 2
Friday, 1/14: Total: 3, MC: 2, LOLHS: 1
Wednesday, 1/12: Total: 3, MC: 2, LOLMS: 1
Monday, 1/10: Total: 3, CS: 1, Lyme: 2
Sunday, 1/9: Total: 2, MC: 1, Lyme: 1
Friday, 1/7: Total: 1, MC: 1:
Thursday, 1/6: Total: 7, LOLHS: 5, Lyme: 1, CS: 1
Wednesday, 1/5: Total: 14, LOLHS: 6, MC: 1, Lyme: 3, CS: 4
Tuesday, 1/4: Total: 5, LOLHS: 4, CS: