Photo by CDC on Unsplash.

LYME-OLD LYME — The Daily Data Report issued Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, around 4 p.m. by the Connecticut Department of Health(CT DPH) shows two new, confirmed COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme. This caused the Town to break a grim, new milestone by taking its cumulative case total from 998 to 1000. 

There was one new case reported in Lyme taking the cumulative total of cases there from 250 to 251.

The next Daily Data Report will be issued by the state Tuesday, Feb. 15, around 4 p.m.

Statewide Data

The state’s COVID-19 Daily Positivity Rate on Monday, Feb. 14 , fell below 4.0 for the first time since the  Omicron strain was detected in the state. Friday’s number was 4.94% while Monday’s had reduced to 3.32%.

The number of COVID-related hospitalizations decreased by 61 to 406.

Of those hospitalized, 187 (representing 46.1%) are not fully vaccinated.

The total number of COVID-related deaths in Connecticut remained at 10,260.

In the Feb. 10 COVID Case Rate map, the total number of towns in the Red (highest) Zone for case rates has fallen by five since last week to 164, leaving five towns in the state — Bridgewater, Canaan, Colebrook, Hartland and Warren — not in the Red Zone, but rather all in the Gray Zone.

This number of 164 is equivalent to 97.0 percent of towns in the state, which remain in the Red Zone.

All the towns in the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) are in the Red Zone.

Old Lyme is in the Red (highest) Zone for the 12th consecutive week: prior to this, the last time Old Lyme was in the Red Zone was Sept. 30, 2021.

Lyme is in the Red Zone for the 10th week in succession.

The CT DPH will issue an updated map of the zones Thursday, Feb. 17 — the map is updated weekly on Thursdays.

Extracts from the Feb. 10, 2022 CT DPH report

As of Feb. 2, 2022: (the number in parentheses is from Jan. 26, 2022)

• Number of cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut: 163,170 (150,141)
• Number of fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut: 2,628,772 (2,569,296)
• Percent of fully vaccinated persons, who have contracted COVID-19: 6.21% (5.84%)

For the week beginning Jan. 9, 2022: (the number in parentheses is from Jan. 16, 2022)

• Risk of unvaccinated persons testing positive for COVID-19 as compared to fully vaccinated persons: 3.1x greater (3.1x greater)
• Risk of unvaccinated persons dying from COVID-19 as compared to fully vaccinated persons: 15.2% (12.9x greater)

Increase in Cases in Lyme & Old Lyme Since August 2021

The cumulative total of confirmed cases for Old Lyme has now increased by 557 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 628 new cases there since that date. Meanwhile, Lyme’s cumulative total on Aug. 26 was 114 indicating 137 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 the past two weeks, Lyme has had 18 new cases while Old Lyme has reported 53.

In an email sent Thursday, Feb. 10, regarding the latest COVID-19 data, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) Director of Health Stephen Mansfield states, “Although the number of new cases and hospitalizations continues to decrease, we are still experiencing high average daily case rates, and a continued focus on preventing transmission is important.”

He continues, “Based on the current level of community transmission, both the Connecticut Department of Public Health and the CDC continue to recommend that everyone wear a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status.”

Finally, he states, “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/.”

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, Feb. 17, 2022.

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

Four COVID-related fatalities have now 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 and fourth fatalities, which were reported respectively in 2021 and on Feb. 4, 2022, have not been made available.

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.”

A full listing of all LOL Schools-related cases during 2022 is given below. On Monday, Feb. 14, six new cases were reported in LOL 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 (8/26/21 – 12/23/21) at this link.

The listing below 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.

The following abbreviations are used in the lists below: LOLHS: Lyme-Old Lyme High School, LOLMS: Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School, CS: MC: Mile Creek School, and Center School Pre-Kindergarten.

Monday, Feb. 14
Total: 6, LOLMS: 2, MC: 3, Lyme: 1

Sunday, Feb. 13
Total: 3, LOLMS: 2, MC: 1

Friday, Feb. 11
Total: 2, LOLHS: 1, CS: 1

Thursday, Feb. 10
Total: 2, Lyme: 1, CS: 1

Wednesday, Feb. 9
Total: 2, LOLHS: 1, MC: 1

Tuesday, Feb. 8
Total: 0

Monday, Feb. 7
Total: 3, Lyme: 1, MC: 1, CS: 1

Sunday, Feb. 6
Total: 2, LOLMS: 1, MC: 1

Friday, Feb. 4
Total: 5, LOLHS: 2, LOLMS: 1, MC: 2

Thursday, Feb. 3
Total: 1, Lyme: 1

Wednesday, Feb. 2
Total: 3, MC: 3

Tuesday, Feb. 1
Total: 1, MC: 1

JANUARY 2022
Monday, 1/31: Total: 2, LOLMS: 1, Lyme: 1
Sunday, 1/30: Total: 1, Lyme: 1
Friday, 1/28: Total: 3, LOLHS: 1, LOLMS: 1, MC: 1
Thursday, 1/27: Total: 3, LOLHS: 1, Lyme: 2
Wednesday, 1/26: Total: 3, LOLHS: 1, MC: 2
Tuesday, 1/25: Total: 4, LOLMS: 2, MC: 2
Monday, 1/24: Total: 9, LOLHS: 2, LOLMS: 1, Lyme: 1, MC: 4, CS: 1
Sunday, 1/23: Total: 3, LOLMS: 1, Lyme: 2
Friday, 1/21: Total: 8, LOLHS: 4, LOLMS: 2, MC: 2
Thursday, 1/20: Total: 5, LOLMS: 1, MC: 1, Lyme: 3
Wednesday, 1/19: Total: 7, LOLHS: 2, LOLMS: 4, CS: 1
Tuesday, 1/18: Total: 7, LOLHS: 3, LOLMS: 2, MC: 2
Monday, 1/17: Total: 6, Lyme: 4, MC: 2
Friday, 1/14: Total: 3, MC: 2, LOLHS: 1
Wednesday, 1/12: Total: 3, MC: 2, LOLMS: 1
Monday, 1/10: Total: 3, CS: 1, Lyme: 2
Sunday, 1/9: Total: 2, MC: 1, Lyme: 1
Friday, 1/7: Total: 1, MC: 1:
Thursday, 1/6: Total: 7, LOLHS: 5, Lyme: 1, CS: 1
Wednesday, 1/5: Total: 14, LOLHS: 6, MC: 1, Lyme: 3, CS: 4
Tuesday, 1/4: Total: 5, LOLHS: 4, CS: 1