Photo by CDC on Unsplash.

LYME/OLD LYME — The Daily Data Report issued Friday, April 22, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) shows five new, confirmed COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme and two in Lyme.

This case raises Old Lyme’s cumulative case total to 1090 and Lyme’s to 270.

April 5, 2022 was the most recent day on which no new cases were reported in either town.

Prior to March 25, Lyme had gone for 23 consecutive days with no new cases being reported. Two new cases were reported in Lyme on March 25.

Prior to April 5, the most recent day on which no new cases were reported in either Lyme or Old Lyme was March 24. There were also no new cases on March 9 and 4, and Feb. 24. The previous date prior to Feb. 24 when no new cases were reported in either town was Dec. 12, 2021.

Statewide Situation – Daily Update

The state’s COVID-19 Daily Positivity Rate rose from 7.6% on April 21, to 8.09% on April 22.

Yesterday’s rate of 8.09% was the state’s highest recorded COVID-19 Daily Positivity Rate since Feb. 1, 2022 when the Rate stood at 8.68%.

On April 22, the number of COVID-related hospitalizations increased by 12 to 188 from 176 on April 21.

In contrast, on Jan. 12, 2022, the number of COVID-related hospitalizations was 1,939.

Of those hospitalized on April 22, the number not fully vaccinated was 60 (representing 31.9%).

The total number of COVID-related deaths in Connecticut rose to 10,834 on April 22, from 10,826 on April 21, according to The New York Times.

The next Daily Data Report will be issued by CT DPH Monday, April 25, around 4 p.m.

Statewide Situation – Weekly Update

This map, updated April 21, 2022 shows the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks. Both Lyme and Old Lyme are now in the Red (highest) Zone. One hundred ad eight towns (representing a total of 63.9% 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.

On Thursday, April 21, the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) released its latest weekly COVID-19 Alert Map (pictured above), which indicates that 108 municipalities are now in the Red (highest of four) Zone for case rates. These towns in the Red Zone include both Lyme and Old Lyme.

This number has increased by 54 from the 54 towns recorded in the Red Zone last week, thus doubling the number of towns in the Red Zone.

Although this total of Red Zone towns reflects a dramatic increase over last week’s number, it still shows a reduction in the number of Red Zone towns since  Jan. 27, when the total was 168 out of 169 towns.

This April 21 total of 108 towns in the Red Zone means more than half of the towns in the state are now in the Red Zone. The number of 108 is equivalent to 63.9% of towns in the state, which are in the Red Zone.

As of April 21, 2022 eight out of the nine towns in the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) are in the Red Zone, with North Stonington being in the Orange (second highest) Zone.

East Lyme, Groton, Lyme, Old Lyme, Waterford, New London, Ledyard and Stonington are all in the Red Zone.

No towns are in the Yellow (second from lowest) or Gray (lowest) Zones.

The LLHD is no longer issuing reports with updated Case Rates and other metrics.

The CT DPH will issue an updated map of the zones Thursday, April 28 — 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

Increase in Cases in Lyme & Old Lyme Since August 2021

The cumulative total of confirmed cases for Old Lyme has now increased by 647 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 718 new cases there since that date.

Meanwhile, Lyme’s cumulative total on Aug. 26 was 114 indicating 156 new cases have also been confirmed there during the same period.

Ledge Light Health District Update

The LLHD is no longer issuing weekly updates unless there is, “any significant change in case rates, hospitalizations, etc.”

On April 14, LLHD sent LymeLine.com this press release issued by CT DPH the same day. It begins: With the current uptick of COVID-19 cases—coupled with the upcoming schedule of spring holidays and family gatherings—the Connecticut Department of Public Health is reminding residents of the tools currently in place to help contain the spread of the virus. 

The new Community Levels tool created by the CDC can be viewed at this link: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html

Ledge Light Health District continues to focus its 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/.

An explanation of the new CDC Community Levels tool by Thomas Gotowka can be found at this link.

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/

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.

COVID-19 Situation in LOL Schools

Under new state protocols for schools, Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools are no longer required to carry out contact tracing.

LOL Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser explained the latest developments in LOL Schools COVID protocols in an April 1 email to the school community, saying, “As noted in my email of February 17, 2022, beginning April 1, 2022 we will no longer report daily COVID-19 cases in the schools.”

He then stated, “For the remainder of this school year, that information will be complied on a weekly basis and will be available on our website at the following link: https://www.region18.org/parents/covid-data.”

For a summary of cases in LOL Schools between Jan. 1 and March 31, 2022, visit this link.

View a full listing of cases between 8/26/21 – 12/23/21 at this link.