LYME-OLD LYME —The Daily Data Report issued Monday, March 21, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) shows an increase of two in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme taking the town’s cumulative case total to 1050.
No new cases were reported in Lyme, leaving the cumulative case total at 246 meaning March 21 is the 20th consecutive day on which no new cases have been reported in Lyme.
The most recent day that no new cases were reported in either Lyme or Old Lyme was March 9. There were also no new cases on March 4, and Feb. 24. The previous date 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 Tuesday, March 22, around 4 p.m.
Statewide Situation – Weekly Update
The most recent, weekly COVID-19 Case Rate Map, which was released Thursday, March 17, by CT DPH indicates that only nine municipalities are now in the Red (highest of four) Zone for case rates. This number has fallen by three from 12 since last week:- the nine Red Zone towns are Eastford, Guilford, Ledyard, Middletown, New Haven, New London, Salem, Weston, and Westport.
This reflects a further reduction 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; on March 3, the total was 23, and and last week on March 12, it was 12.
However, Alex Putterman asks in an article published March 17, in The Hartford Courant, Is another COVID-19 wave on the way? Connecticut experts ‘watching very carefully’ for BA.2 omicron subvariant, suggesting it is not yet time to let down our guard in respect of COVID precautions.
The March 17 total of nine is equivalent to 5.3% of towns in the state, which remain in the Red Zone.
As of March 17, New London and Ledyard are the only towns in the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) remaining in the Red Zone. Two are in the Orange (second highest) Zone:- Stonington and East Lyme. Three are in the Yellow (second lowest) Zone:- Old Lyme, Groton, and Waterford, while Lyme and North Stonington are in the Gray (lowest) Zone.
The weekly report dated March 17 for the nine member towns of the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) shows that Old Lyme has the sixth highest Daily Case Rate at 17.8% behind New London, Ledyard, East Lyme, Stonington and Waterford.
Lyme is in 8th equal and lowest place with North Stonington for Daily Case Rates at 0% with both towns recording less than five cases reported in the past two weeks.
The next weekly LLHD report will be issued Thursday, March 24.
The CT DPH will issue an updated map of the zones Thursday, March 24 — 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
Statewide Situation – Daily Update
The state’s COVID-19 Daily Positivity Rate on Monday, March 21, decreased marginally from 2.73% on March 18 to 2.49%. The March 10 rate of 1.79% was the most recent time the positivity rate had fallen below 2.0 since Oct. 7, 2021 according to our records, when it was 1.70%.
On March 21, the number of COVID-related hospitalizations increased by five from 92 to 97. In contrast, on Jan. 12, 2022, the number of COVID-related hospitalizations was 1,939.
Of those hospitalized on March 18, 43 (representing 44.3%) are not fully vaccinated.
The total number of COVID-related deaths in Connecticut rose to 10,723, according to the New York Times.
Statewide Situation – Weekly Update
As of March 16, 2022: (the number in parentheses is from March 9, 2022)
Number of cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut: 175, 490 (174,207)
Number of fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut: 2,687,029 (2,679,485)
Percent of fully vaccinated persons, who have contracted COVID-19: 6.53% (6.5%)
For the week beginning March 16, 2022: (the number in parentheses is from Feb. 27, 2022)
Risk of unvaccinated persons testing positive for COVID-19 as compared to fully vaccinated persons: 3.0 x greater (2.4 x greater)
Risk of unvaccinated persons dying from COVID-19 as compared to fully vaccinated persons: 16.0 x greater (15.9 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 607 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 678 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 (Ledyard 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 8 — the previous week’s numbers were respectively less than 5 and 13.
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, 14, 16 and 20.
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
Sunday, March 20
Total: LOLHS: 1
Wednesday, March 16
Total: LOLHS: 1
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: