This map, updated Aug. 12, 2021 shows the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks. Lyme is still in the (lowest) Gray Zone, while Old Lyme has moved back down into the Yellow 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, Aug. 12, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health  (CT-DPH) for data as at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11, shows the latest average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks (see map above.)

The map clearly reflects the national surge in COVID-19 cases with 39 towns now in the Red Zone, which is up from six a week ago on Aug. 5. See detailed description of the zones in italics below. These significant increases are due primarily to the increased contagiousness of the Delta Variant.

Old Lyme has fallen out of the Orange (second highest case rate) Zone into the Yellow (second lowest) Zone — but only by a fraction. Old Lyme’s two-week case rate per 100,000 is 9.8 — if it were 10.0, then it would still be in the Orange Zone.

Towns in the Red Zone, which are within the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD), include New London, Ledyard, Stonington and North Stonington. Locally, Norwich and Waterford are also categorized as red, but they are not in the LLHD.

Other towns in the red category include Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Cheshire, East Haven, Easton, Hartford, Meriden, Middletown, New Britain, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Norwich, Plymouth, Stamford, Thomaston and Waterbury. At least three of these towns — Easton, Hartford and Thomaston — are in the Red Zone for the second consecutive week.

Almost 50 towns are now in the Orange (second highest case rate) Zone — up from 33 last week — including Westbrook and Salem locally.

Old Lyme joins the Yellow (second lowest) Zone along with around 40 other Connecticut towns, including Old Saybrook, East Lyme, and Essex.

All remaining towns in the state, including Lyme, along with Deep River and Chester, are in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone. This is the 21st straight week for Lyme in the Gray Zone.

• 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.

New Cases in Old Lyme

The Daily Data Report issued Thursday, Aug.12, shows that Old Lyme has reported two new confirmed COVID-19 cases since the previous day, Aug. 10 . This takes Old Lyme’s cumulative total of confirmed cases to 364, while Lyme’s number holds at 113.

Weekly Report from Ledge Light Health District (LLHD)

Stephen Mansfield, LLHD Director of Health, prefaced the weekly LLHD report sent out yesterday with these words, “As noted in the data, we continue to see a significant increase in new cases, as well as outbreaks associated with family gatherings and other social events.”

He added, “Although we are making great strides with our COVID vaccination program, it is imperative that we remain diligent in our mitigation strategies. We strongly advise everyone to wear masks indoors in public settings, regardless of vaccination status”

Mansfield noted in addition, “At this time, LLHD is vaccinating all individuals 18 and older. Information regarding vaccination opportunities and other relevant information can be found at https://llhd.org/coronavirus-covid-19-situation/covid-19-vaccine/”

Vaccination Rates

Vaccination rates in Lyme and Old Lyme are encouraging with 83.2 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 75.1 percent.

Percentages for the fully vaccinated are 79.8 for Lyme and 71.4 for Old Lyme.

These rates remain among the higher percentages in the state.

COVID-19 Cases Over Time: Dec. 2020-Aug. 2021

The following maps show has the picture of COVID-19 cases has gone from an almost totally red map back in Dec. 2020 to an almost all-gray map on June 17, 2021 and then back to a map with all colors represented in substantial number again.

The map below is from Aug. 5 when six towns were in the Red (highest case rate) Zone (the previous week’s number was four) and 33 in the Orange (second highest case rate) Zone — the previous week’s number was four.

The towns in the Red Zone were East Hampton, Easton, Hampton, Hartford, Hartland, North Stonington*, and Thomaston.

There were 33 towns in the Orange Zone including Old Lyme, Waterford, New London, Groton, Ledyard and Stonington, all of which are in the Ledge Light Health District, as are the towns denoted with an * in the other zones.

East Lyme* had reentered the Yellow (second lowest) Zone along with more than 50 other Connecticut towns.

All remaining towns in the state, including Lyme*, were in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone. This was the 20th straight week for Lyme in the Gray Zone.

This map, updated Aug. 5, 2021 shows the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks. Lyme is still in the (lowest) Gray Zone, but Old Lyme has moved into the Orange Zone.

The map below is from July 29, when four towns were in the Red Zone –Harland, Salem, Bozrah and Sprague — and four towns were in the Orange Zone — Easton, East Hampton, Ledyard and Thompson.

Old Lyme had reentered the Yellow (second lowest) Zone along with more than 50 other Connecticut towns. All remaining towns in the state, including Lyme, were in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone. This was the 19th straight week for Lyme in the Gray Zone.

This map, updated July 29, 2021 shows the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks. Lyme is still in the (lowest) Gray Zone, but Old Lyme has moved into the Yellow Zone.

The map below is from July 22, when two towns, Franklin and Salem, were in the Red Zone (indicating the highest rate of COVID-19 new cases), which is up one from the previous week, and Andover remained in the (second highest rate) Orange Zone (down from two towns last week.)

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

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.

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.

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