Monthly Archives: July 2021

July 23 COVID-19 Update: Three New Cases in Old Lyme Take Cumulative Total to 347, Lyme Holds at 112

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Photo by CDC on Unsplash

LYME/OLD LYME —The Daily Data Report for Connecticut issued Friday, July 23, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health  (CT-DPH) for data as at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, July 22, shows that Old Lyme has reported three new confirmed COVID-19 cases. There are no new cases in Lyme.

This takes Old Lyme’s cumulative total of confirmed cases to 347, while Lyme’s hold at 112.

There is no change in the number of fatalities reported in either Lyme (0) or Old Lyme (3).

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, which was reported in 2021, have not been made available.

Visit this link for our July 22 update, which includes statewide data.

Here a Bear, There a Bear …

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LYME/OLD LYME — Around 5:50 p.m. on Sunday, July 18, Paul and Barbara Hallwood had just returned to their home on Sterling City Rd. in Lyme, when they saw the black bear, pictured above, hard at work in their yard.

Paul explained, “The bear had destroyed our bird feeder, bending the sturdy, metal pole [and] holding it up to a  right angle with ease. It treated the bird seed holder, which can be seen in the photo, like a lollipop wrapper, tearing at it and then tipping seeds out before eating them and grunting with satisfaction.”

The last the Hallwoods saw of  the bear – and the seed holder – was when the bear dipped down below their patio and, in Paul’s words,  “… presumably, moved on to somebody else’s garden.”

Paul and Barbara Hallwood

Asked, “How did you feel when you saw the bear?” Paul replied, “It was an OMG moment, and just look at the thickness of that fur with rippling muscles also evident!”

Was it the first time they had seen a bear in their yard?  Paul responded in the affirmative, saying, “First time we had ever seen one in our garden or anywhere for that matter. We knew then and there that that was the end of our bird feeder joy – well, at least until the hibernation season.”

He added, “As many neighbors as possible were immediately alerted to the danger.”

We were also sent the photo below, which was taken July 9, in Old Lyme at about 7:30 p.m. by Ron Breault at his neighbor’s house. Breault noted, “Then for the next hour plus the bear roamed our backyard and ravaged our bird feeders.”

Photo by Ron Breault.

We will let Paul Hallwood have the last word on the current, local black bear situation with his wise comment, “It’s a good idea not to feed the birds.”

Old Lyme’s Corrigan, Hack in US Men’s 8+ Boat Finish Second in Heat 1, Now Onto Repechage, Tuesday; Link to Video of Race Added

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Aerial view of Heat 1 for the USA Men’s Eight. This was at an early stage in the race when the US was leading.

OLD LYME — The US Men’s Eight came in second to Germany in Friday night’s Heat 1 rowed at noon Tokyo time, 11 p.m EST. The results were:

  1. Germany: 5:28:95
  2. USA: 5:30:57
  3. Romania: 5:39:84
  4. Australia: 5:43:66

In case you missed the race live or would like to re-watch it, here is a link to a video of Heat 1 , (apologies that you have to watch the trailer first!)

The results in Heat 2 were:

  1. Netherlands: 5:30:66
  2. New Zealand: 5:32.11
  3. Great Britain: 5:34.40

Old Lyme’s Austin Hack smiles at the end of the heat.

Germany and the Netherlands automatically qualify for the final while the remaining boats must now participate in the repechage.

Liam Corrigan was in the stroke position in the stern of the Team USA Men’s Eight boat for tonight’s heat.

Paul Fuchs of Old Lyme, who is the Old Lyme Rowing Association’s Director of Rowing, explained how the repechage works, saying that a country must first qualify even to get into the Olympics. Then, he continued, “In the eights, they only have seven spots available and the United States qualified for one of those spots.”

Fuchs continued, “Those seven boats race in two Heats, one of three boats and one of four boats. Only one boat goes directly to the final from each of the Heats.” In the case of these Olympics, those boats are the winning boats of each Heat, Germany and The Netherlands.

The remaining five boats then go to a repechage, which, in Fuchs’s words, “… is essentially a second chance. That is a five-boat race and … four of those boats [will] go into the six-boat final.”

He concludes, “The US will row in that repechage trying be in the top four and [thus] get into the final.” The other two spots in the final have already been secured by Germany and The Netherlands. The US had a marginally faster time than The Netherlands in their respective heats, but the US did not win its heat.

The repechage will be held Wednesday, July 28, at 10:48 a.m. in Tokyo, which will be 9:48 p.m. EST on TUESDAY, July 27.

Editor’s Note: Fuchs holds the men’s lightweight course record for Head of the Charles, and competed on seven US World Championship teams. He has coached at the Olympic and World  championship levels and serves on the Executive Council of FISA, the international governing body for  the sport of rowing.

 

 

Old Lyme BOS Declared July 24 as ‘Austin Hack & Liam Corrigan Day’ in Honor of Our Hometown Olympic Heroes

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Austin Hack

Liam Corrigan

OLD LYME — The Old Lyme Board of Selectmen declared  Saturday, July 24, as ‘Austin Hack & Liam Corrigan Day.’

Both Hack and Corrigan, who graduated from Lyme-Old Lyme High School in 2010 and 2015 respectively, are competing in the 2020 Olympic Games, which opened this morning in Tokyo.

Both are members of the US Men’s Eight team, which rows its first heat at 11 p.m. this evening, EST, which is 12 noon in Japan. This is a recent time change from the originally announced schedule — the 7:30 p.m. included in the proclamation below has now been superseded

The proclamation reads as follows:

GO AUSTIN AND LIAM!

GO TEAM USA!

 

July 22 COVID-19 Update: New Case in Old Lyme Takes Cumulative Total to 344, Lyme Holds at 112; Statewide Numbers Worse

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This map, updated July 22, 2021 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 Daily Data Report for Connecticut issued Thursday, July 22, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health  (CT-DPH) for data as at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 21, shows that Old Lyme has reported one new confirmed COVID-19 case. This takes Old Lyme’s cumulative total of confirmed cases to 344, while Lyme’s holds steady at 112.

This same report issued Thursday, July 22 also includes the latest average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks (see map above) and shows further distressing results, reflecting national trends. The Hartford Courant reported July 21 that Connecticut’s COVID-19 positivity rate spikes again, reaching highest level in more than two months.

Two towns, Franklin and Salem, are now in the Red Zone (indicating the highest rate of COVID-19 new cases), which is up one from last week, and Andover remains in the (second highest rate) Orange Zone (down from two towns last week.)

Eight towns Yellow Zone (indicating the lowest but one rate of COVID-19 new cases), which is up from two last week. They are Clinton, East Hampton, Manchester, Newington, Stonington, Westbrook, Windsor and Windsor Locks.

In this most recent report, all the remaining 158 towns in Connecticut, including Lyme and Old Lyme, are in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone for two-week new case rates. It is the tenth week in succession for Old Lyme in that Zone, while Lyme is in the Gray Zone for an 18th straight week.

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.

The map below is from July 15, when one town, Franklin, was in the Red Zone (indicating the highest rate of COVID-19 new cases) and another two, Salem and Andover, were in the (second highest rate) Orange Zone. New Hartford and Griswold were in the Yellow Zone (indicating the lowest but one rate of COVID-19 new cases.)

This map, updated July 15, 2021 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.

The map below is from July 8, when New Hartford was the sole town in the Yellow Zone.

This map, updated July 8, 2021 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.

The map below is from July 1, when Marlborough and Prospect were in the Yellow Zone.

This map, updated July 1, 2021 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.

The map below is from June 24, when Somers, Prospect and Bolton were in the Yellow Zone.

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.

This is the June 17 map, 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.

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. The towns in the Yellow Zone 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.

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.

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.

In their final report dated July 9, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) issued their latest weekly report of COVID data for the municipalities within their District. LLHD has announced this report will no longer be issued.

At that time, seven towns in the nine-town district (which includes Lyme and Old Lyme) reported less than five new cases in the past two weeks. Both Groton and New London reported six cases apiece. The previous week, all nine  towns reported less than five new cases in the past two weeks..

Ledge Light Director of Health Stephen Mansfield noted, “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 81.95 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 73.72 percent.

Percentages for the fully vaccinated are 78.54 for Lyme and 69.94 for Old Lyme.

These rates remain among the higher percentages in the state.