March 3 COVID-19 Update: Number of Towns in Red Zone Falls Dramatically, Two New Cases in Old Lyme Raise Cumulative Case Total to 1035, Lyme Holds at 256

Posted on March 4, 2022 by Olwen Logan

This map, updated March 3, 2022 shows the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks. Old Lyme remains in the Red (highest) Zone while Lyme has fallen into the Gray (lowest) Zone. Only 23 towns (representing a total of 13.6% of the state) are now found in the Red 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.

Old Lyme has the third highest rate of new COVID-19 cases of all CT municipalities, after Middletown and Brooklyn

LYME-OLD LYME — The Daily Data Report issued Thursday, March 3, 2022, around 4 p.m. by the Connecticut Department of Health (CT DPH) shows two, new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme, but none in Lyme.

This means the cumulative case total for Old Lyme is now 1035 while the equivalent number in Lyme remains at 256.

The Hartford Courant states that Old Lyme is the Connecticut municipality with the third highest rate of new COVID-19 cases, after Middletown and Brooklyn.

The next Daily Data Report will be issued by the state Friday, March 4, around 4 p.m.

Local Summary

The most recent day when no new cases were reported in either Lyme or Old Lyme was Thursday, Feb. 24 — the previous time before that when no new cases were reported in either town was Thursday, Dec. 12, 2021.

On the other side of the equation, however, when looking at the weekly report dated March 3 for the 10 member towns of the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD), Old Lyme has the highest Daily Case Rate at 29.3% with 30 cases reported in the past two weeks ending March 3.

In contrast, however, Lyme, is in 10th and lowest place for Daily Case Rates at 0% with less than 5 cases reported in the past two weeks.

The next weekly LLHD report will be issued Thursday, March 10.

Statewide Situation – Daily Update

The state’s COVID-19 Daily Positivity Rate on Thursday, March 3, fell marginally to 2.12% from 2.31% on March 2.

On March 3, the number of COVID-related hospitalizations decreased by 21 from 192 to 171.

Of those hospitalized that day, 68 (representing 39.8%) are not fully vaccinated.

The total number of COVID-related deaths in Connecticut rose to 10,515, according to the New York Times.

Statewide Situation – Weekly Update

In very encouraging news, the March 3 COVID Case Rate map above shows that the total number of towns in the Red (highest) Zone for case rates has fallen by 64 since last week to 23. This is a dramatic improvement from last week.

This number of 23 is equivalent to 13.6% of towns in the state, which remain in the Red Zone.

Five towns in the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) remain in the Red Zone: Old Lyme, East Lyme, Ledyard, New London and Stonington.

Old Lyme is in the Red (highest) Zone for the 15th consecutive week: prior to this, the last time Old Lyme was in the Red Zone was Sept. 30, 2021.

Lyme is now in the Gray (lowest) Zone.

The CT DPH will issue an updated map of the zones Thursday, March 10 — the map is updated weekly on Thursdays.

The color-coded zones are:

Red: Indicates case rates over the last two weeks of greater than 15 per 100,000 population
Orange: Indicates case rates between 10 to 14 cases per 100,000 population
Yellow: Indicates case rates between 5 and 9 per 100,000 population
Gray: Indicates case rates lower than five per 100,000 population

Extracts from the Feb. 24, 2022 CT DPH report

As of March 2, 2022: (the number in parentheses is from Feb. 23, 2022)

Number of cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut: 172,677 (170,997)
Number of fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut: 2,668,072 (2,655,982)
Percent of fully vaccinated persons, who have contracted COVID-19: 6.47% (6.44%)

For the week beginning Feb. 20, 2022: (the number in parentheses is from Feb. 06, 2022)

Risk of unvaccinated persons testing positive for COVID-19 as compared to fully vaccinated persons: 3.1 x greater (3.1 x greater)
Risk of unvaccinated persons dying from COVID-19 as compared to fully vaccinated persons: 17.5 x greater (8.4% x greater)

Increase in Cases in Lyme & Old Lyme Since August 2021

The cumulative total of confirmed cases for Old Lyme has now increased by 592 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 663 new cases there since that date. Meanwhile, Lyme’s cumulative total on Aug. 26 was 114 indicating 142 new cases have also been confirmed there during the same period.

Ledge Light Health District Update

Five 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 less than 5 new cases while Old Lyme has reported 30 — the previous week’s numbers were 6 and 34.

In an email sent Thursday, March 3, regarding the latest COVID-19 data, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) Director of Health Stephen Mansfield states, “Based on surveillance data available in a new tool created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called COVID-19 Community Levels, the municipalities within Ledge Light Health District (and all of New London County) are currently classified as low, the “best” classification available based on these new metrics.”

He continues, “Community Levels can be low, medium, or high and are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID cases in a specific geographical area. CDC recommends taking precautions to protect yourself and others from COVID based on Community Levels in your area.”

He adds, “In New London County, residents are advised to:

Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines
Get tested if you have symptoms

You can view the new tool by following this link: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html”

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, March 10, 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 Feb. 17 email to the school community that, “Through the end of March we will continue to send daily COVID-19 case numbers for those who are interested in tracking this information.”

He added, “Beginning in April, we will report these numbers on a weekly basis.”

A full listing of all LOL Schools-related cases during 2022 is given below.

During Winter Break for LOL Schools, no case reporting was announced until Monday, Feb. 28. Schools are now back in session. One new case was reported on March 2 and another on March 3

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

Thursday, March 3
Total: LOLHS: 1

Wednesday, March 2
Total: LOLHS: 1

FEBRUARY 2022
Friday, Feb. 18: Total: LOLMS: 1, MC: 1
Thursday, Feb. 17: Total: 1, MC: 1
Wednesday, Feb. 16: Total: 6, LOLMS: 3
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

Old Lyme Girls Advance in State Tournament, Face Parish Hill Tonight

Posted on March 4, 2022 by Admin

Senior Megan Loflin makes a lay-up for two points. Photos by A. Fenton.

OLD LYME — Playing at home in the first round of the CIAC Class S tournament, the Old Lyme girls soundly defeated East Windsor 56-33 on Tuesday evening.

Old Lyme scored a game-high 17 points in the second quarter followed by 12 points apiece in the third and fourth quarters.

Junior Alexis Fenton sinks a deep three-pointer.

Junior Alexis Fenton was top-scorer for the ‘Cats with 18 points while senior Megan Loflin had 14 rebounds and sophomore Avav Roth took four steals and six rebounds.

Coach Don Bugbee said after the game that it was, “A very nice team effort overall versus a much bigger and physical East Windsor team.”

He added, “We will now travel to, and face, #7 Parish Hill on Friday, March 4, in the second round of the Class S State Tournament.”

Old Lyme’s Midsummer Festival Returns July 30, LYSB Hosts 5K Run in Morning — Registration Now Open!

Posted on March 4, 2022 by Admin

Old Lyme’s Midsummer Festival will take place Saturday, July 30, this year with an opening concert at the Florence Griswold Museum the evening before.

OLD LYME — After the disappointment of Old Lyme’s Midsummer Festival being cancelled for the past two years due to the COVID pandemic, we are thrilled to announce that it will be taking place again this year!

So mark your calendars now for the full-day event on Saturday, July 30, with the traditional, outdoor concert at the Florence Griswold Museum taking place the evening before, Friday, July 29.

Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau will be hosting its traditional 5K road race on the morning of July 30. Registration is open at this link.

We will publish more details as they become available.