LYME/OLD LYME — The Daily Data Report issued Friday, May 20, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) shows a total of eight new, confirmed COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme and one in Lyme compared with May 19 numbers.
These cases raise Old Lyme’s cumulative case total to 1241 from 1233 on May 19, and similarly Lyme’s to 307 from 306 on the same date.
April 5, 2022 was the most recent day on which no new cases were reported in either town.
Prior to March 25, Lyme had gone for 23 consecutive days with no new cases being reported. Two new cases were reported in Lyme on March 25.
Prior to April 5, the most recent day on which no new cases were reported in either Lyme or Old Lyme was March 24. There were also no new cases on March 9 and 4, and Feb. 24. The previous date prior to Feb. 24 when no new cases were reported in either town was Dec. 12, 2021.
Statewide Situation – Weekly Update
On Thursday, May 19, the (CT DPH) also released its latest weekly COVID-19 Alert Map (pictured above), which indicates that 162 municipalities are now in the Red (highest of four) Zone for case rates. These towns in the Red Zone include both Lyme and Old Lyme.
This number has increased by four over the 158 towns recorded in the Red Zone last week, thus increasing the number of towns in the Red Zone to 95.9% of the state.
This total of 162 Red Zone towns continues to move rapidly towards the Jan. 27, 2022 number, when the total was 168 out of 169 towns.
As of May 19, 2022, all nine towns in the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) remain in the Red Zone. The LLHD is no longer issuing reports with updated Case Rates and other metrics.
The CT DPH will issue an updated map of the zones Thursday, May 26 — the map is updated weekly on Thursdays.
The color-coded zones on the map above 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
CDC Updates ‘Community Level’ to High for New London County
The map above shows that all counties in Connecticut except Fairfield and Tolland are categorized as ‘High’ for COVID-19 Community Level.
Ledge Light Health District Director of Health Stephen Mansfield issued the following press release Friday, May 20, “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 are currently classified as High.’
He explains, “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.”
All New London County residents are advised to:
- Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines
- Get tested if you have symptoms
- Wear a mask if you have symptoms, test positive, or were exposed to a positive case
- Wear a mask indoors in public, and on public transportation
- If you are at higher risk of severe illness consider taking additional precautions
You can 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 its 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/.
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/.
An explanation of the new CDC Community Levels tool by Thomas Gotowka can be found at this link.
Statewide Situation – Daily Update
The state’s COVID-19 Daily Positivity Rate broke the 10% watershed on May 4 at 10.32%. It has now broken the 14% mark — the May 20 Rate of 14.19% is up from the May 19 Rate of 14.0%, and is now the state’s highest recorded COVID-19 Daily Positivity Rate since Jan. 19, 2022 when the Rate stood at 16.55%.
On May 20, the number of COVID-related hospitalizations decreased to 354 from the 369 recorded on May 19.
In contrast, on Jan. 12, 2022, the number of COVID-related hospitalizations was 1,939.
Of those hospitalized on May 20, the number not fully vaccinated was 110 (representing 31.07%).
The total number of COVID-related deaths in Connecticut rose to 10,926 on May 20, according to The New York Times.
The next Daily Data Report will be issued by CT DPH Monday, May 23, around 4 p.m.
Increase in Cases in Lyme & Old Lyme Since August 2021
The cumulative total of confirmed cases for Old Lyme has now increased by 798 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 869 new cases there since that date.
Meanwhile, Lyme’s cumulative total on Aug. 26 was 114 indicating 193 new cases have also been confirmed there during the same period.
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.
COVID-19 Situation in LOL Schools
Under new state protocols for schools, Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools are no longer required to carry out contact tracing.
LOL Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser explained the latest developments in LOL Schools COVID protocols in an email dated April 1 to the school community, saying, “As noted in my email of February 17, 2022, beginning April 1, 2022 we will no longer report daily COVID-19 cases in the schools.”
He then stated, “For the remainder of this school year, that information will be complied on a weekly basis and will be available on our website at the following link: https://www.region18.org/parents/covid-data.”
Details published to date show the following number of positive cases in LOL Schools by week.
April 3-9: 0
April 10-16: 0
April 17-23: Spring Break
April 24-30: 7
May 2-7: 27
May 8-14: 41
May 15-21:
The total number of cases recorded in Lyme and Old Lyme for the week May 8-14 was 51, indicating the majority of cases had a connection to Lyme-Old Lyme Schools.
For a summary of cases in LOL Schools between Jan. 1 and March 31, 2022, visit this link.
View a full listing of cases between 8/26/21 – 12/23/21 at this link.