June 24 COVID-19 Update: Three Towns in State Now in Yellow Case Rate Zone, Up from One Last Week, All Others in Gray (Lowest); No New Cases in Lyme, Old Lyme

This map, updated June 24, shows the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks. Both Lyme and Old Lyme are still 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.) Map: Ver 12.1.2020 Source: CT Department of Public Health Get the data Created with Datawrapper. Details in italics are the same for each of the maps included in this article.

LYME/OLD LYME — The report issued Thursday, June 24, 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 slight reversal of last week’s encouraging situation for the state as whole with two more towns, Somers and Prospect, now joining Bolton in the Yellow Zone (indicating the lowest but one rate of COVID-19 new cases.)

This means there are now three towns in the Yellow Zone while all remaining 166 towns in Connecticut, including Lyme and Old Lyme, are in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone for two-week new case rates. It is the seventh week in succession for Old Lyme in that Zone, while Lyme is in the Gray Zone for a 15th straight week.

Neither Lyme nor Old Lyme reported any new cases in the June 24 report meaning Lyme holds steady at 107 cases and Old Lyme at 341 (this number has been corrected from the 342 reported on June 7.)

  • 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 is last week’s map updated June 17, when just one town, Bolton, was in the Yellow Zone.

This map, updated June 17, shows the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks. Both Lyme and Old Lyme are still 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.) Map: Ver 12.1.2020 Source: CT Department of Public Health Get the data Created with Datawrapper. Details in italics are the same for each of the maps shown.

For comparison, the map below is from June 3 and shows one town, Waterbury, in the Orange Zone and 21 towns in the Yellow Zone, down from 48 the previous week. They were: Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bloomfield, Brooklyn, Coventry, Cromwell, Derby, East Hartford, East Haven, Granby, Hamden, Hartford, Manchester, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Putnam, Rocky Hill, Shelton, Waterford and Windsor.

This map, updated June 3, shows the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the previous two weeks. Both Lyme and Old Lyme are 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.) Map: Ver 12.1.2020 Source: CT Department of Public Health Get the data Created with Datawrapper. Details in italics are the same for each of the maps shown.

Below is the map from May 27 that showed one town in the Red Zone, Putnam, and 10 towns in the Orange Zone.

This map, updated May 27, shows the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks. Both Lyme and Old Lyme were still 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.) Map: Ver 12.1.2020 Source: CT Department of Public Health Get the data Created with Datawrapper. Details in italics are the same for each of the maps shown.

Compare the maps above with the one we published Dec. 18, 2020 to see the remarkable progress that has been made with controlling the spread of the virus through expansion of vaccination rates and improved mitigation strategies.

Map of Connecticut dated Dec. 17, 2020 showing both Lyme and Old Lyme now in the CT DPH-identified ‘Red Zone.’ This 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 over 15.

On June 25, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) issued their latest weekly report of COVID data for the municipalities within their District.

All towns in the nine-town district (which includes Lyme and Old Lyme) except Stonington (which only had six cases in the past two weeks) now report less than five new cases in the past two weeks. Last week, there were two towns in this category, but they were Groton and New London.

Ledge Light Director of Health Stephen Mansfield prefaces the report with the comment, “We are happy to see a continued decrease in the number of new cases throughout our jurisdiction and encourage everyone to get vaccinated!”

He adds, “Information regarding vaccination opportunities and other relevant information can be found at https://llhd.org/coronavirus-covid-19-situation/covid-19-vaccine/

The following link provides centralized access to Connecticut COVID data: https://data.ct.gov/stories/s/COVID-19-data/wa3g-tfvc/

Vaccination rates in Lyme and Old Lyme are also extremely encouraging with 81.17 percent of the population in Lyme having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and the equivalent number for Old Lyme being 72.73 percent.

These are some of the highest percentages in the state.

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