This map updated Jan. 20, 2022 shows the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks. Both Lyme and Old Lyme remain in the Red (highest) Zone. The only town not in the Red Zone is Canaan. 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 issued Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, at 4 p.m. by the Connecticut Department of Health(CT DPH) shows 8 new, confirmed COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme taking the town’s total of cumulative cases from 860 to 888.
Two new cases were reported in Lyme, taking that town’s cumulative total to 221.
The next Daily Data Report will be issued by the state Friday, Jan. 21, around 4 p.m.
Statewide Data
There is good news in an article by Eliza Fawcett published Jan. 20 in the Hartford Courant, when she states, “Connecticut’s weekly COVID-19 test positivity rate and its number of hospitalizations fell Thursday to their lowest points in weeks as officials voiced cautious optimism that the state may be nearing the end of its last significant surge of COVID-19.”
There is bad news, however, in that the Thursday, Jan. 20 CT DPH Daily COVID-19 Report reported 241 COVID-19 deaths this week over last week’s number. This represents the highest number of deaths in the state in a single week since January 2021.
The state’s COVID-19 positivity rate was down from 16.55% in the Jan. 19 report to 13.29% and COVID-related hospitalizations decreased by 72 to 1,733.
Of those hospitalized, 1,017 (representing 58.7%) are not fully vaccinated.
The Thursday, Jan. 20 Weekly COVID-19 Report includes the newly updated weekly COVID-19 Average Daily Case Rate Report issued by the state on Thursdays, which showed that the total number of towns in the Red (highest) Zone for case rates remains 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.
All the towns in the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) are in the Red Zone.
To demonstrate the speed of this current surge, the total number of towns in the Red Zone on Nov. 24, 2021 was 110. As further comparative points of reference, the week prior to Thanksgiving (Nov. 18, 2021), there were 67 towns in the Red Zone, on Oct. 7, 2021 the number was down to 37, and on July 8, and June 17, 2021, there was not a single one.
Old Lyme is in the Red (highest) Zone for the ninth consecutive week: prior to these seven weeks, the last time Old Lyme was in the Red Zone was Sept. 30, 2021.
Lyme is in the Red Zone for the seventh week in succession.
Details of the Daily Case Rate Zones are as follows:
- 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 CT DPH will issue an updated map of the zones Thursday, Jan. 27 — the map is updated weekly on Thursdays.
Extracts from the Jan. 20, 2022 Weekly CT DPH report
As of Jan. 19, 2022: (the number in parentheses is from Jan. 12, 2022)
- Number of cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut: 136,171 (115,021)
- Number of fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut: 2,553,397 (2,540,829)
- Percent of fully vaccinated persons, who have contracted COVID-19: 5.33% (4.53%)
- Number of COVID-19-associated deaths: 9683 (9,442)
For the week beginning Jan. 9, 2022: (the number in parentheses is from Jan. 2, 2022)
- Risk of unvaccinated persons testing positive for COVID-19 as compared to fully vaccinated persons: 3.2x greater (3.4x greater)
- Risk of unvaccinated persons dying from COVID-19 as compared to fully vaccinated persons: 13.9x greater (18.6x greater)
Increase in Cases in Lyme & Old Lyme Since August 2021
The cumulative total of confirmed cases for Old Lyme has now increased by 445 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 516 new cases there since that date. Meanwhile, Lyme’s cumulative total on Aug. 26 was 114 indicating 107 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. 21, regarding the latest COVID-19 data, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) Deputy Director of Health Jennifer Muggeo states, “Although there is a decrease in the number of new cases reflected in this report, we are still experiencing high average daily case rates and a continued focus on preventing transmission is important.”
She continues, “Ledge Light Health District advises all businesses and community members 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.”
Finally, she states, “LLHD continues to focus our vaccination efforts on homebound populations and providing initial vaccinations and boosters to individuals who were vaccinated previously. There are a number of community-based vaccination clinics scheduled for next week (beginning tomorrow); information about vaccination opportunities can be found at https://llhd.org/coronavirus-covid-19-situation/covid-19-vaccine/.”
COVID testing opportunities can be found at COVID-19 Testing | Ledge Light Health District (llhd.org)
The following link provides centralized access to Connecticut COVID data: https://data.ct.gov/stories/s/COVID-19-data/wa3g-tfvc/
The next Ledge Light update is due Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022.
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.”
On Thursday, Jan 20, 2022, Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Today we became aware of [five] 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: LOLMS – 1, Mile Creek – 1 (Fusaro), and Lyme- 3 (Hrozenchik, Campbell, McDermott.)”
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 (8/26/21 – 12/23/21) at this link.
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.
See above for a Thursday, Jan. 20 update.
On Wednesday, Jan 19, 2022, Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Today we became aware of [six] 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: LOLHS- 2, LOLMS- 4 and Center- 1 (Lucier.)”
On Tuesday, Jan 18, 2022, Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Today we became aware of [seven] 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: LOLHS – 3, LOLMS – 2, Mile Creek – 2 (Paradee).”
On Monday, Jan. 17, 2022, Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Over the weekend we became aware of [six] 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: Lyme – 4 (Atkins, McNamara, Sullivan, Library), Mile Creek – 2 (Tate, Oliver).”
On Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, 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. Mile Creek- 2 (Mulligan, Hotchkiss) LOLHS- 1.”
On Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022, 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: Mile Creek – 2 (Hotchkiss, Oliver), Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School (LOLMS) – 1.”
On Monday, Jan. 10, 2022, 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 School – 1 (Newman), Lyme School – 2 (Tartisel, Sestrom.)”
Sunday, Jan. 9
Total: 2 (MC: 1, Lyme: 1)
Friday, Jan. 7
Total: 1 (MC: 1)
Thursday, Jan. 6
Total: 7 (LOLHS: 5, Lyme: 1, CS Pre-K: 1)
Wednesday, Jan. 5
Total: 14 (LOLHS: 6, MC: 1, Lyme: 3, CS Pre-K: 4)
Tuesday, Jan. 4
Total: 5 (LOLHS: 4, CS Pre-K: 1)
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.
OLD LYME — Old Lyme Emergency Services Director David Roberge informed us this afternoon (Friday, Jan. 21) that earlier today, the Town of Old Lyme received an additional quantity of COVID-19 self-test kits from the Connecticut Department of Health (CT DPH.)
