Photo by CDC on Unsplash.
LYME-OLD LYME — The Daily Data Report issued Monday, Jan. 10, 2022, at 4 p.m. by the Connecticut Department of Health (CT DPH) shows 59 new, confirmed COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme taking the town’s total of cumulative cases from 725 to 784. This number breaks all previous records for a single day in Old Lyme, but it must be remembered this is a two-day total as the state does not report data over the weekend so the previous number of 725 was for last Friday, Jan. 7.
Eleven new cases were reported in Lyme, taking that town’s cumulative total from 183 to 194. Again, this is a record single day number for Lyme but the same caveat regarding that daily total applies as for Old Lyme.
The state’s COVID-19 positivity rate was down slightly from 24.55% in the Jan. 7 report to 23.68% in the Jan. 10 report but COVID-related hospitalizations increased by 79 to 1,889.
Significantly, 1,287 (representing 68.1%) of those hospitalized are NOT FULLY VACCINATED.
Today, Tuesday, Jan. 11, according to TheHill.com, the United States set a new record for COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 145,982 people hospitalized with COVID-19-related illnesses (per Department of Health and Human Services data.) This number exceeds the previous peak of around 142,000 people, which occurred in January 2021 before vaccines were widely available.
To give context to the state’s positivity rate of 23.68% on Jan. 10, 2022, an article by Eliza Fawcett published in the Hartford Courant Jan. 5, 2022, reported that, “The state’s seven-day positivity rate now stands at 22%, the highest of any time in the past 18 months.”
Previously on Dec. 28, 2021, Alex Putterman wrote in an article published in the Hartford Courant, “Connecticut blew past its previous record for COVID-19 positivity rate … for a daily rate of 14.98%. Previously, the state hadn’t reported a positivity rate higher than 11% on any given day since widespread testing began in spring 2020.”
The next report from CT DPH will be issued Tuesday, Jan. 11, at around 4 p.m.
As we reported in our Thursday, Jan. 6 weekly COVID-19 Update, the weekly COVID-19 Average Daily Case Rate Report issued by the state on that day showed that the total number of towns in the Red (highest) Zone for COVID -19 Case Rates remained constant at 168, leaving only one town in the state — Canaan — not in the Red Zone. This number of 168 is equivalent to 99.4 percent of towns in the state.
The CT DPH will issue an updated map of the zones Thursday, Jan. 13 — the map is updated weekly on Thursdays.
Extracts from the Jan. 5, 2022 CT DPH report
These clearly indicate the importance of getting vaccinated and boosted:
As of Jan. 5, 2022: (the number in parentheses is from Dec. 29, 2021)
- Number of cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut: 83,147 (58,212)
- Number of fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut: 2,526,891 (2,513,612)
- Percent of fully vaccinated persons, who have contracted COVID-19: 3.29% ( 2.32%)
- Of the 1,784(1,151) patients currently hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, 1,213–68% (619–71.2%) are not fully vaccinated.
For the week beginning Dec. 26, 2021: (the number in parentheses is from Dec. 19, 2021)
- Risk of unvaccinated persons testing positive for COVID-19 as compared to fully vaccinated persons: 3.3x greater (3.3x greater)
- Risk of unvaccinated persons dying from COVID-19 as compared to fully vaccinated persons: 17.2x greater (32.9x greater)
- The total number of COVID-19-associated deaths is 9,281.
The cumulative total of confirmed cases for Old Lyme has now increased by 282 since Wednesday, Nov. 10, when the total stood at 443 — that number had stood unchanged for a week since the previous Thursday, Nov. 4.
On Aug. 26 — which was the day Lyme-Old Lyme Schools started the new academic year — Old Lyme’s cumulative case total stood at 372, meaning there have now been 353 new cases there since that date. Meanwhile, Lyme’s cumulative total on Aug. 26 was 114 indicating 69 new cases have also been confirmed there during the same period.
Ledge Light Health District Update
All the towns in the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD), of which both Lyme and Old Lyme are members, are in the Red Zone.
In an email sent Friday, Jan. 7, regarding the latest COVID-19 data, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) Director of Health Stephen Mansfield stated, “We continue to see a high number of new COVID cases within our jurisdiction, the number of new cases have more than doubled since the last reporting period.”
He continues, “Ledge Light Health District advises all businesses and residents take direct steps to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in your business, home, and place of work. We encourage all businesses within our communities to adopt masking policies for employees and customers, regardless of vaccination status.”
Mansfield concluded, “LLHD continues to focus our vaccination efforts on homebound populations and providing initial vaccinations and boosters to individuals who were vaccinated previously. Information about vaccination opportunities can be found at https://llhd.org/coronavirus-covid-19-situation/covid-19-vaccine/
Lyme-Old Lyme Schools Update
Under new state protocols for schools, Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools are no longer required to carry out contact tracing , but LOL Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser said in a Jan. 4 email to the school community that he, “… will continue to notify the school community of any positive cases of COVID-19 that impact the schools.”
Lyme-Old Lyme Schools closed Dec. 23, 2021 and reopened Monday, Jan. 3, 2022 after the winter break meaning no new cases were reported by the schools during that period. We are no longer including positive cases impacting LOL schools between Aug 26, 2021 (the first day of the 2021-22 academic school year) and Dec. 23, 2021 (the last day of school before winter break began), in this report. During that period contact tracing was still required.
View the full listing of cases during that period at this link.
On Monday, Jan. 10, 2022, Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Today we became aware of [three] individuals who tested positive after being present at school. At the elementary level, where students are in cohorts, the classrooms where those individuals were present are identified by the teacher’s last name: Center- 1 (Newman), Lyme- 2 (Tartisel, Sestrom)”
He continued, “As always, any student or staff member, whether having known exposure or not, that is exhibiting any symptoms of illness including, but not limited to, fever (temp 100.4 F and above), chills, uncontrolled new cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, loss of taste or smell, muscle or body aches, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fatigue, congestion, or a runny nose should not attend school, notify the school nurse, quarantine, and be tested.”
A full listing of all LOL Schools-related cases during 2022 is given below.
This is the latest information that we have with the most recent cases first — there may have been further updates, however, which we have not yet received.
On Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022, Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Over the weekend we became aware of the following [two] individuals who tested positive after being present at school. At the elementary level, where students are in cohorts, the classrooms are identified by the teacher’s last name: Mile Creek- 1 (Velikaneye), Lyme- 1 (McNamara)
On Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Today we became aware of the following [one] individual, who tested positive after being present at school. At the elementary level, where students are in cohorts, the classrooms are identified by the teacher’s last name: Mile Creek- 1 (Wilson.)
On Thursday, Jan. 6, Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Today we became aware of the following [seven] individuals, who tested positive after being present at school. At the elementary level, where students are in cohorts, the classrooms are identified by the teacher’s last name: LOLHS [Lyme-Old Lyme High School] – 5, Lyme [School] – 1 (Tartisel), and Center [School]-1 (Lucier.)”
On Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Today we became aware of the following [14] individuals who tested positive after being present at school. At the elementary level, where students are in cohorts, the classrooms are identified by the teacher’s last name: LOLHS- 6, Mile Creek- 1 (Herel), Lyme- 3 (Tartisel, Sobus, McDermott) and Center-4 (Mullaney’s PM class, Miles)
On Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022, Neviaser informed the school community that the administration had been made aware of “four individuals at Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) and one individual in the Center School 3-year old PK classroom, who tested positive after being present at school.”
Fatalities Due to COVID-19 in Lyme, Old Lyme
There has been one COVID-related fatality of a Lyme resident: a 57-year-old male passed away Nov. 16, 2021. On Nov. 30, the state finally included this fatality in its data
Three COVID-related fatalities have been reported in Old Lyme. 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.
LYME-OLD LYME — The 