LYME/OLD LYME — The Daily Data Reports issued Tuesday through Friday, May 24-27, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) shows a total of 10 new, confirmed COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme and three in Lyme compared with May 23 numbers.
These cases raise Old Lyme’s cumulative case total to 1266 from 1256 on May 23, and similarly Lyme’s to 312 from 309 on the same date.
The daily cases reported were as follows:
Tuesday, May 24: OL-2, L-0
Wednesday, May 25: OL-4, L-2
Thursday, May 26: OL-2, L-1
Friday, May 27: OL-2, L-0
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 26, the (CT DPH) also released its latest weekly COVID-19 Alert Map (pictured above), which indicates that 159 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 decreased by three over the 162 towns recorded in the Red Zone last week, thus decreasing the number of towns in the Red Zone to 94.1% of the state.
This total of 159 Red Zone towns indicates the first slowdown in several weeks compared with the Jan. 27, 2022 number, when the total was 168 out of 169 towns.
As of May 26, 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, June 2 — 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 Reduces ‘Community Level’ to Medium for New London County, All Other CT Counties Remain ‘High’
The map above shows that on May 26 all counties in Connecticut except New London are categorized as ‘High’ for COVID-19 Community Level. New London is now categorized as Medium. These levels are updated weekly by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursdays.
Ledge Light Health District Deputy Director of Health Jennifer Muggeo sent out the following email Friday, May 27, “Last Friday we shared that the CDC Community Level for New London County had moved to “High.” CDC updates these data each Thursday and last night moved New London County to “Medium.””
She continued, “Community members are advised to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, get tested if they have symptoms, and wear a mask when they are around others if they have symptoms, are positive or have had an exposure.”
Muggeo added, “People with symptoms should be tested and people with a positive test should isolate per guidelines. Masking remains an effective method for reducing the spread of COVID-19 and people may choose to mask even though our region is not designated as “High.””
She concluded, “You can find the latest CDC Community Level, schedules of vaccination clinics and community testing events, and isolation/quarantine guidance on our website and, as always, we are here to answer any questions or provide support for community members.
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.
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 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 with the May 20 Rate of 14.19%, but encouragingly, the May 23 Positivity Rate fell to 12.3% and has continued to fall overall for the next four days as follows:
May 24: 12.13%
May 25: 12.05%
May 26: 11.77%
May 27: 11.83%
On May 27, the number of COVID-related hospitalizations increased to 363 from the 348 recorded on May 23.
In contrast, on Jan. 12, 2022, the number of COVID-related hospitalizations was 1,939.
Of those hospitalized on May 27, the number not fully vaccinated was 107 (representing 29.48%).
The total number of COVID-related deaths in Connecticut rose to 10,941 on May 27, according to The New York Times.
The next Daily Data Report will be issued by CT DPH Tuesday, May 31, around 4 p.m. No report will be issued on Monday, May 30, due to the Memorial Day Federal Holiday.
Increase in Cases in Lyme & Old Lyme Since August 2021
The cumulative total of confirmed cases for Old Lyme has now increased by 823 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 894 new cases there since that date.
Meanwhile, Lyme’s cumulative total on Aug. 26 was 114 indicating 198 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: 30
May 22-28: 23
The total number of cases recorded in Lyme and Old Lyme for the week May 22-28 was 25, indicating the vast majority of cases (23) 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.