Monthly Archives: March 2021

March 5 COVID-19 Update: Cumulative Cases in Old Lyme Rise by One to 283, Lyme Holds at 89

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Photo by CDC on Unsplash

LYME/OLD LYME — The Daily Data Report for Connecticut issued Friday, March 5, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health(CT DPH) for data as at 8:30 p.m., Thursday, March 4, shows that cumulative cases (confirmed and probable) since the pandemic began increased by one in Old Lyme to 283 but showed no change in Lyme at 89 when compared with the previous day’s numbers.

The next CT DPH Daily Data Report for Connecticut will be issued in the afternoon of Monday, March 8.

Old Lyme – Cumulative Cases Up One

Old Lyme has a cumulative total (since the outbreak began) of 277 confirmed COVID-19 cases and SIX probable cases, making a TOTAL of 283 cases.

This represents an INCREASE of ONE in the cumulative number of confirmed cases and NO CHANGE in the number of probable cases compared with those reported Thursday, March 4.

The total number of Old Lyme residents tested is 4,744, up eight from the previous day’s number of 4,738.

Lyme – No Change in Cumulative Cases

Lyme has a cumulative total (since the outbreak began) of 82 confirmed cases and 7 probable cases, making a TOTAL of 89 cases.

This represents NO CHANGE in the cumulative number of confirmed or probable cases compared with those reported Thursday, March 4.

The total number of Lyme residents tested is 1,275, an increase of three over Thursday’s number of 1,272.

Old Lyme Now in Gray (Lowest) Zone for Two-Week New Case Rate, Lyme Remains in (Highest) Red Zone

The report issued Friday, March 5, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) for the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks contains good news for Old Lyme … but not Lyme.

This report is issued daily, but only updated weekly on Thursdays. The most recent report was updated Thursday, March 4: the next updated report will be issued in the afternoon of Thursday, March 11.

It shows that Old Lyme has moved from the (second lowest) Yellow Zone down into the (lowest) Gray Zone reflecting an even lower case rate than the previous week.

Unfortunately, Lyme remains in the ‘Red Zone’ — the category with the highest rate of new cases.

(Four zones are specified by the CT DPH — see details below)

Overall, the report contains good news for the whole state with the number of towns in each Zone increasing this week in every case (the previous week’s figures shown in parentheses):

  • 18 (10) towns are now in the (lowest case rate) Gray Zone
  • 10 (7) are in the (lowest but one) Yellow Zone
  • 36 (28) are in the (second highest case rate) Orange Zone.

All the remaining towns are in the Red Zone, but this represents a dramatic improvement from the map published in November when every town in the state was in the Red Zone.

This report shows that Old Lyme now joins 17 other towns — Barkamsted, Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Canaan, Chester, Colebrook, Cornwall, Eastford, Franklin, Hartland, Morris, Norfolk, Roxbury, Scotland, Sharon, Voluntown and Warren — in the Gray (lowest rate)  Zone.

The Yellow (second lowest rate) Zone includes Bolton, Canton, Easton, Farmington, Granby, New Hartford, Plymouth, Tolland, Woodbury and Willington.

  • The gray category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town is less than five or less than five reported cases.
  • The yellow category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town is between five and nine reported cases.
  • The orange category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town is between 10 and 14.
  • The red category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town exceeds 15.

In all cases, this rate does not include cases or tests among residents of nursing home, assisted living, or correctional facilities.

More Detail on Two-Week Case Rates

LLHD Director of Health Stephen Mansfield

On Thursday, March 4, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) also issued their latest weekly report of COVID data for the municipalities within their District. Ledge Light Director of Health Stephen Mansfield prefaces the report with the comment, “We are encouraged to see relatively steady numbers within our jurisdiction.’

He stresses, however, “Although we are making great strides with our COVID vaccination program, it is still imperative that we remain diligent in our mitigation strategies.”

The latest two-week case rates announced Thursday, March 4, for the period 2/14 to 2/27 per 100,000 population (compared with the previous two-week case rate for 2/07 to 2/20) have fallen in both Old Lyme and Lyme.

The two-week case rates are as follows:

  • Old Lyme from 6.8 to 4.8
  • Lyme from 24.4 to 15.3

The same report shows that the case numbers in Week 1 and Week 2 respectively and recorded for the period 2/14 to 2/27  (compared with the previous two-week case rate for 2/07 to 2/20 shown in parentheses) are as follows:

  • Lyme had 2 (5) cases in Week 1 and 3 (3) in Week 2
  • Old Lyme had 2 (4) cases in Week 1 and 3 (3) in Week 2

This data was updated March 4, 2021. The next Ledge Light Weekly Data Report for its District will be issued in the afternoon of Thursday, March 11.

Three Fatalities in Old Lyme Since Pandemic Began, None in Lyme

According to the report mentioned above, there have now been THREE fatalities in Old Lyme. Asked Tuesday, Feb. 9, for details of this third fatality, Ledge Light Health Department Director of Health Stephen Mansfield responded, “We have not been notified of any recent deaths in Old Lyme. Keep in mind that that report is compiled by the Connecticut Department of Public Health; deaths are not reportable to local health districts.”

He added, “I can’t speak for their data sources.”

The two fatalities from Old Lyme previously reported in 2020 were a 61-year-old female and an 82-year-old male.

No fatalities have been reported in Lyme.

Connecticut Hospital Occupancy

At the request of several readers, we are adding a new report today showing the respective rates of hospital occupancy at local hospitals. The data for this report is obtained from the Connecticut Hospital Occupancy Report published weekly by the CT DPH and extracted from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) facility-level data for hospital utilization aggregated on a weekly basis (Friday to Thursday).

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Editor’s Note: The state issues a COVID-19 metric report daily around 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, which includes current data up to the previous evening. In light of the serious rise in Coronavirus cases, we publish a new weekday update reporting confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases in Lyme and Old Lyme. 

Planning Continues for 2021 White Elephant Sale, But No Final Decision Yet on Whether it Will Happen

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Will the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme’s White Elephant Sale take place this year?

OLD LYME — They kept it going through World War II, but last year — for the first time in 83 consecutive years — the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme had to cancel their White Elephant Sale (WES) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Asked if this year’s sale was going ahead, Bob Davis, who has been chairing the WES for some 20 years, said by email, “We are currently in a holding pattern waiting to see the impact of the vaccination program, the state’s approval of large crowds and the final approval of our ministers.”

He continued, “The WES Board met in December, as usual, to plan for this years sale. We looked at shifting the dates to late summer and fall to buy us time; but either Christ The King church parking was unavailable or we ran into other organization’s events and a fall venue with folks back to school and work is not practical for a two day sale.”

Davis added, “With that, the board decided to keep to our original schedule of July 9 and 10 [for 2021.]”

He concluded by explaining that the WES Board would continue, “… reserving tents, parking, banners, etc. hoping for the best.”

Expressing an optimistic air, Davis said, “Those eligible for vaccinations, hopefully will be receiving them soon and we can look forward to some normalcy in our lives with the WES.”

Editor’s Note: We will update this information as further decisions are taken regarding whether or not the WES will take place.

 

Basketball Update: Old Lyme Boys Steal Last Minute 50-47 Win Over Coginchaug

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LYME/OLD LYME — In a thrilling game played away Saturday in the Coginchaug gym, the Old Lyme boys ultimately outlasted Coginchaug 50-47 in a tightly contested Shoreline Conference game.
Caden Monte his a jump shot with less than a minute to go to give Old Lyme the lead at 48-47 and Jacob Ritchie added two free throws with five seconds left for the final victory.
Coginchaug had a last second look at three points on the buzzer, which would have tied the game, but — for the Coginchaug fans — excruciatingly, it bounced out.
Leading the Wildcats was Jacob Ritchie with 16 points, Colbe Andrews was close behind with 13 and Frank Sablone added 10.
Coginchaug was led by AJ Defilio with 17 points, Tyler Garratson 13, and Jaysen Penney 11.
The boys meet Valley this evening away with a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.

Death of Francis J. “Frank” Purdue Announced, ‘a Life Full of Love and Joy’

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OLD LYME — Francis J. “Frank” Purdue passed away peacefully Feb. 12, 2021, holding his wife, Maria’s hand, at Middlesex Hospital after a short illness. Born March 8, 1933, in New York to Francis and Viola Purdue.

Frank is survived by his wife, Maria, and his six children, Frank (wife Linda), Maureen (husband John), Susan, Edward (wife Carole), Pamela (husband Paul), Gina (husband Garth); and 18 grandchildren …

… Frank lived a life full of love and joy.

Visit this link to read the full obituary published Feb. 18, in The Day.

A la Carte: Apples for the Asking

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Photo by Pierpaolo Riondato on Unsplash.

This was another fun food week.

I am, as I mentioned before, tired of my own food. With few exceptions, I am eating my own food almost every day since the end of last March. Oh, sure, some takeout, but it is expensive and not a whole lot better than what I can make at home.

Okay, it can be a whole lot better than I can make at home.

But BTP (before the pandemic), I rarely ate three meals a day, so these days my own food can be caloric, way more caloric, like including chocolate chip cookies I’d frozen warmed up in the microwave.

So this week was nice.

My friend Richard Swanson dropped me off some homemade hot dogs (I never knew anyone who tried to make his own hot dogs). I put the hot dogs into a lightly toasted piece of challah and added some Gulden’s mustard. It was really good. He also made his own mile-high chocolate cake and left a slice of that, too.

Earlier that day, my neighbor and friend, Sue O’Farrell, asked if I liked apple sauce. Who doesn’t like apple sauce?

After dinner she also sent warmed apple crumb dessert. That was good, too. She gave me the recipe for her applesauce. And I found another recipe for baked apples I’d not made.

Here they are.

Apple Sauce

From Sue O’Farrell

5 pounds of apples, peeled, cored and cut up
1 cup water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cups fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Place all the ingredients into a slow cooker set on high for 4 hours. When it was cooled for about 30 minutes, she used an immersion blender to puree the applesauce. (I do not have a stick blender, so I pureed it in my Ninja when the sauce was cooler.) 

Baked Apples

[From some magazine(!), October, 2017]

Yield: 4 servings

4 small Honeycrisp apples, cored and seeded, bottom intact
4 tablespoons softened butter
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cardamom
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ cup chopped walnuts

Mix butter and spices together and fill each apple with butter mixture. Place on a baking pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, until apples are tender. Great with ice cream.

Lee White

About the author: Lee White has been writing about restaurants and cooking since 1976 and has been extensively published in the Worcester (Mass.) Magazine, The Day, Norwich Bulletin, and Hartford Courant. She currently writes Nibbles and a cooking column called A La Carte for LymeLine.com and the Shore Publishing and the Times newspapers, both of which are owned by The Day. She was a resident of Old Lyme for many years, but now lives in Groton, Conn.