Photo by CDC on Unsplash

LYME/OLD LYME — This past Friday afternoon, Sept. 11, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) issued their weekly report of COVID-19 cases by town for all the towns in the health district they cover. Both Lyme and Old Lyme are included in that district.

The numbers reported on Friday (Sept. 11) showed no change from those we reported earlier in the day, when we said Old Lyme had a total of 26 cases including two fatalities while Lyme has a total of eight.

On Friday, Sept. 4, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) reported two new COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme and one in Lyme. The new cases in Old Lyme are both male, ages 74 and 61 respectively. The new case in Lyme is a 21-year-old female.

The number of surviving cases in Old Lyme ranges in age from 21- to 82-years-old and is equally divided between males and females with 12 of each. The two fatalities were a 61-year-old female and an 82-year-old male.

The eight cases in Lyme comprise three females and five males ranging in age from one- to 68-years-old.

To demonstrate the growth in confirmed COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme, the table below is a summary of the cases that LymeLine.com has reported since March 31 when the first case was announced and also includes both fatalities.

Details of all Old Lyme’s confirmed surviving cases to date are as follows:

1. Female, age 64
2. Female, age 21
3. Male, age 27
4. Female, age 53
5. Female, age 61
6. Female, age 29
7. Male, age 40
8. Male, age 53
9. Female, age 60
10. Male, age 45
11. Female, age 20
12. Female, age 43
13. Female, age 48
14. Male, age 70
15. Male, age 67
16. Female, age 68
17. Male, age 50
18. Male, age 21
19. Female, age 48
20. Female, age 34
21. Male, age 20
22. Male, age 28
23. Male, age 74
24. Male, age 61

Old Lyme First Selectman Timothy Griswold has previously noted that the 21-year-old female with a confirmed case (#2 in the list immediately above) was tested in Florida, but used an Old Lyme address although she does not live here. Because she gave the Old Lyme address, Griswold said that LLHD must report her as an Old Lyme resident.

Gender and age details of the confirmed cases in Lyme to date are:

1. Male, age 34
2. Female, age 61
3. Female, age 34
4. Male, age 1
5. Male, age 34
6. Male, age 20
7. Male, aged 68
8. Female, age 21

Residents and businesses are urged to access up-to-date information regarding the pandemic from reputable sources including the Ledge Light Health District website (www.llhd.org), Facebook (@LedgeLightHD), Twitter (@LedgeLightHD), and Instagram (@LedgeLightHD).

Editor’s Note: Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) serves as the local health department in southeast Connecticut for the towns of Lyme and Old Lyme as well as East Lyme, Groton, Ledyard, New London, North Stonington,  Stonington and Waterford. As a health district, formed under Connecticut General Statutes Section 19a-241, LLHD is a special unit of government, allowing member municipalities to provide comprehensive public health services to residents in a more efficient manner by consolidating the services within one organization.

LYME/OLD LYME – A group of nearly two dozen area residents – consisting of both students and adults – have gathered together to form the Lyme-Old Lyme Partnership for Social Justice to energize local efforts aimed at supporting education reform, affordable housing and police accountability in Lyme, Old Lyme and New London. 

The all-volunteer group’s mission is to educate residents on important topics of social justice and call attention to opportunities where citizens can support local, state and national social- justice efforts. The partnership has formed four task forces so far: 

• The Task Force on Education Reform is working with school administration and the school board to assist in these groups’ efforts to foster changes in curricula, provide diversity training for school staff, recruit teachers of color, establish a zero-tolerance policy for racism and create a diversity committee of staff, parents and students. 
• The Task Force on Affordable Housing is focused on increasing the availability of affordable housing. 
• The Task Force on Police Accountability is focused on supporting regional and state efforts to reform the criminal justice system. 
• The Task Force on New London Partnerships is focused on establishing an ongoing working network between the partnership and New London-based organizations. 

The group plans to: 

• arrange informative monthly seminars, meetings and/or webinars to educate area residents on social justice issues; 
• appear before appropriate town boards and commissions that oversee issues of social justice; and 
• forge an active network of residents willing to contact their elected officials by phone, mail or email on issues of importance; and submit letters to the editor to local media. 

The group can be found on this Facebook page and reached by email at LOLPartnership4SJ@gmail.com.

New members are welcome to join.

Old Lyme Children’s Learning Center on Lyme Street has launched a fall fundraising campaign.

OLD LYME — The Old Lyme Children’s Learning Center (OLCLC) on Lyme St. has announced a fall fundraising effort, saying in a letter from the board to supporters and friends, which is also posted on their website, “As a non-profit organization, we have certainly felt the impact of COVID-19 at the Center these past few months.”

The OLCLC board comprises Kristen St. Germain (president), Nicole McCarthy, Marie Ryan, and Elizabeth Sked.

The board continues in their letter, “We recently reopened our doors on Aug. 3, after temporarily closing due to the health crisis in our nation. We are slowly gaining our parents and families back but, unfortunately, not without a huge financial strain on the Center.

Thanks to the dedication of our OLCLC community, we continue to offer the best child care services to our families. The legacy of Constance Pike carries on through the hard work of the OLCLC Board of Directors, the directors, the staff, as well as through the support of the families and friends of the Center who continue to back our facility and programs each year.

As we continue to work hard to stay above water and to support the many essential workers who need quality child care for their children, we are reaching out to our current and former patrons hoping you will all consider us in your donations this upcoming school year.

We do not take it lightly that for over three decades, parents have placed their trust in OLCLC to provide safe, nurturing programs for their children. Of course, this caliber of care comes with a price tag.”

The letter notes that due to COVID-19, this year’s planned Holiday Home Tour fundraiser has had to be cancelled. The Tour, of which LymeLine.com was proud to be a sponsor, typically raises over $10,000 towards OLCLC’s funding.

Explaining how they have managed to maintain their funding to date, the letter states, “Because we were fortunate to receive one of the federal payroll grants, we were able to maintain most of our staff through this crisis, but now have to dip into our savings to continue to run effectively. Those staff members we did lose left us for teaching positions or because of their own health reasons …

… On top of all this, we are also facing licensing restrictions under COVID-19, so our normal revenue has been drastically impacted. We have been fortunate to get a licensed RN on board to assist us with our COVID-19 protocols and we are thrilled to report that our safety measures in place continue to make the Center a safe place for all of our children and families.”

Finally, the board asks, “We reach out to you today with a plea to help us through these difficult times so we can maintain the wonderful programs that Connie Pike started and made a reality for families in Southeastern Connecticut. The daycare industry as a whole has been impacted terribly through this ordeal and although we have a dedicated Board of Directors, directors, staff, and families helping us in any way they can, we are going to need more financial support to get back up and running comfortably again.

Please consider a contribution to our Special Fund that we hope will allow us to continue to be an asset to families who are certainly struggling to find care for their children and find themselves having to go back to work again. Please visit our website if you can make a contribution to our Center. We have a donate button established that will allow you to make a donation immediately.

Alternatively, online donations can be made at this link. We will also, of course, accept donations via the mail.

We are grateful for any consideration you may give to helping us get back on our feet. With your help, we will hopefully be able to keep OLCLC a fundamental part in the development of our community’s children for many more years to come, even through the pandemic we are all facing.“

Editor’s Note: The OLCLC is located at 57 Lyme Street Old Lyme, CT 06371. Contact the Center at (860) 434-1728 or visit www.olclc.com.

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

LYME/OLD LYME — Stephen Mansfield, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) Director of Health, confirmed to LymeLine.com in an email Saturday evening (Aug. 29) that a new COVID-19 cases has been confirmed in Lyme taking the cumulative total in that town to seven.

The latest case, which was reported Aug. 24, is a male, aged 68. The seven cases comprise two females and five males ranging in age from one- to 68-years-old.

Gender and age details of the confirmed cases in Lyme to date are:

1. Male, age 34
2. Female, age 61
3. Female, age 34
4. Male, age 1
5. Male, age 34
6. Male, age 20
7. Male, aged 68

Meanwhile, no additional cases have been identified in Old Lyme where the number of confirmed cases remains at 23 including two fatalities. Nine of the surviving cases are male and the remaining 12 are female. The two fatalities were a 61-year-old female and an 83-year-old male. The most recent case identified in Old Lyme was a 20-year-old male on July 28.

To demonstrate the growth in confirmed COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme, the table below is a summary of the cases that LymeLine.com has reported since March 31 when the first case was announced and also includes both fatalities.

Details of all Old Lyme’s confirmed surviving cases to date are now as follows:

1. Female, age 64
2. Female, age 21
3. Male, age 27
4. Female, age 53
5. Female, age 61
6. Female, age 29
7. Male, age 40
8. Male, age 53
9. Female, age 60
10. Male, age 45
11. Female, age 20
12. Female, age 43
13. Female, age 48
14. Male, age 70
15. Male, age 67
16. Female, age 68
17. Male, age 50
18. Male, age 21
19. Female, age 48
20. Female, age 34
21. Male, age 20

Griswold has previously noted that the 21-year-old female with a confirmed case (#2 in the list immediately above) was tested in Florida, but used an Old Lyme address although she does not live here. Because she gave the Old Lyme address, Griswold said that LLHD must report her as an Old Lyme resident.

Residents and businesses are urged to access up-to-date information regarding the pandemic from reputable sources including the Ledge Light Health District website (www.llhd.org), Facebook (@LedgeLightHD), Twitter (@LedgeLightHD), and Instagram (@LedgeLightHD).

Editor’s Note: Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) serves as the local health department in southeast Connecticut for the towns of Lyme and Old Lyme as well as East Lyme, Groton, Ledyard, New London, North Stonington,  Stonington and Waterford. As a health district, formed under Connecticut General Statutes Section 19a-241, LLHD is a special unit of government, allowing member municipalities to provide comprehensive public health services to residents in a more efficient manner by consolidating the services within one organization.

Careful signage and directions from LYSB volunteers helped Thursday’s event run smoothly. File photo.

OLD LYME — Yesterday, Aug. 20, the Old Lyme Visiting Nurse Association (OLVNA) and the Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau held a back-to-school mask giveaway at Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS.)  This was their second mask giveaway and drive-through event at the LOLHS. 

Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau volunteers directed traffic while the team from OLVNA distributed packages containing surgical masks and LYSB resource cards.  

Close to 1,000 surgical masks were distributed at the event to Lyme and Old Lyme residents along with about 200 LYSB resource cards.  The resource cards contain information for those who are most affected by COVID-19, and include numbers to call for help and where to get food assistance.

So far this summer, the two groups have distributed around 7,500 masks and 1,500 resource cards to the Lyme-Old Lyme community.   

The OLVNA has determined that these drive-through events are one way to provide health services while maintaining social distance.  For this reason, the OLVNA’s annual October Flu and Wellness Clinic will probably be held as a drive-through event at the high school this year. 

Details of the October Flu and Wellness Clinic will be published on LymeLine.com as soon as they are available.