This map, updated April 29, shows the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks. The Town of Old Lyme is now in the Yellow (second lowest) Zone, while Lyme stays in the (lowest) Gray Zone. (Only cases among persons living in community settings are included in this map; the map does not include cases among people who reside in nursing home, assisted living, or correctional facilities.)

LYME/OLD LYME — The report issued Thursday, April 29, 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 shows a significant improvement for the state as whole with the number of towns remaining in the Red Zone (indicating the highest COVID-19 new case rates) now less than 100 for the first time this year.

The number of towns in the state in the Red (highest) Zone for two-week new case rates has fallen from 112 last week to 97 this week. Old Lyme has moved down into the Yellow Zone reflecting  decreased new case rates while Lyme remains in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone.

Old Lyme is now one of the 18 towns in the Yellow (second lowest) Zone. Last week, there were 10 towns in this Zone so this is good news as more towns, including Old Lyme, fall out of the Orange (second highest) Zone.

Lyme is in the Gray Zone for two-week case rates, recording a seventh straight week in the lowest zone. Nineteen towns were in this zone last week and that number has increased to 22 this week. (Four zones are specified by the CT DPH — see details below.)

Overall, the number of towns in each zone is shown below with the previous week’s number in parentheses:

• 22 (19) towns are now in the (lowest case rate) Gray Zone
• 18 (10) are in the (lowest but one) Yellow Zone
• 32 (27) are in the (second highest case rate) Orange Zone.

All the remaining 97 towns are in the Red Zone — last week’s number was 113.

Lyme joins 21 other towns in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone: Bozrah, Bridgewater, Canaan, Chaplin, Colebrook, Cornwall, Deep River, Franklin, Hampton, Hartland, Kent, Norfolk, Pomfret, Salisbury, Scotland, Sharon, Sprague, Union, Voluntown, Warren and Washington.

Old Lyme joins 17 other towns in the Yellow (second lowest rate) Zone: Brooklyn, Durham, East Granby, East Lyme, Essex, Ledyard, Montville, Newington, North Stonington, Salem, Somers, Stafford, Stonington, Suffield, Vernon, Weston and Willington.

The Orange (second highest rate) Zone now has 32 towns : Andover, Avon, Bolton, Burlington, Canterbury, Colchester, Columbia, Darien, East Hampton, Easton, Farmington, Glastonbury, Granby, Groton, Hebron, Lebanon, Lisbon, Mansfield, Marlborough, Middlefield, New Hartford, Plainfield, Portland, Ridgefield, Simsbury, South Windsor, Tolland, Waterford, West Hartford, Westport, Windsor Locks and Woodbridge.

• 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.

This report is issued daily, but only updated weekly on Thursdays. The most recent report was updated Thursday, April 29; the next updated report will be issued in the afternoon of Thursday, May 6.

More Detail on Two-Week Case Rates: Old Lyme Down, Lyme Up

LLHD Director of Health Stephen Mansfield

On Thursday, April 29, 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 heartened to see a continued decrease in new cases throughout the District, with moderate decreases in the last two reporting periods. Our contact tracers continue to report clusters associated with daycares, schools, and workplaces, and transmissions linked to social gatherings and sporting events.”

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 Average Daily Case Rates announced Thursday, April 29, (from 4/11 to 4/24) have decreased in Old Lyme but increased in Lyme.

The two-week case rates are as follows:

• Old Lyme from 10.7 to 9.7
• Lyme from 6.1 to 9.2

The same report shows that the case numbers in Week 1 and Week 2 respectively and recorded for the period 4/11 to 4/24  (compared with the previous two-week case rate shown in parentheses) are as follows:

• Lyme had 1 (1) case in Week 1 and 2 (1) in Week 2
• Old Lyme had 3 (8) cases in Week 1 and 7 (3) in Week 2

This data was updated April 29. The next Ledge Light Weekly Data Report for its District will be issued in the afternoon of Thursday, May 6.

Old Lyme – No Change in Cumulative Cases

The April 29 Daily Data Report for Connecticut for data as at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 28, shows that Old Lyme has a cumulative total (since the outbreak began) of 325 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 11 probable cases, making a TOTAL of 336 cases.

This represents NO CHANGE in the cumulative number of confirmed or probable cases compared with those reported the previous day.

The total number of Old Lyme residents tested is 5,156, an increase of 14 over the Tuesday’s number of 5,142.

Lyme – No Change in Cumulative Cases 

Lyme has a cumulative total (since the outbreak began) of 97 confirmed cases and 8 probable cases, making a TOTAL of 105 cases.

This represents NO CHANGE in the cumulative number of confirmed or probable cases compared with those reported the previous day.

The total number of Lyme residents tested is 1,390, which represents an increase of five over the Tuesday’s number of 1,385.

Vaccination Rates

At the request of several readers, we have started a section reflecting the status of community vaccination rates in Lyme and Old Lyme. The state changed its reporting format for vaccination rates on April 15 and their new data does not align precisely with the former data.

Lyme is ahead of Old Lyme in terms of the percentage of its total population that have received a first dose, with 72.06 percent vaccinated compared with 63.89 percent in Old Lyme.

The percentages for both towns for the age segment 65+ are very encouraging with Lyme now having 100 percent of seniors 65 and above fully vaccinated and 92.85 percent of the same age segment also fully vaccinated in Old Lyme.

The detailed data below was partly updated April 29, but we will add to it as we analyze the new format. One change is that the state is now reporting 65 and above as one group, whereas it was previously split into 65-74 and 75 and above.

Old Lyme
Total population:  7,306
Estimated population age 65-74:  1,067
Estimated population age 75 and above:  794

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Lyme
Total population:  2,316
Estimated population age 65-74:  372
Estimated population age 75 and above:  274

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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 have added a new report 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).

The most recent report is dated Feb. 19 and covers the two-week period from 2/12 to 2/18. No subsequent updates have been issued.

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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 ongoing rise in Coronavirus cases, we publish a new weekday update reporting confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases in Lyme and Old Lyme.