COVID case rates, hospitalizations continue to decline in southeastern Connecticut

Following a holiday-season surge that brought a sharp increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases throughout the region, the number of new cases has trended slowly downward over the last several weeks.

Ledge Light Health District on Thursday reported another drop in the number of overall cases and hospitalizations associated with the virus and particularly the highly contagious omicron wave. Numbers spiked to record highs during the holiday season and continued into the first week of January before new cases began to decline over the past couple weeks.

During the period from Jan. 16 to Jan. 29, Ledge Light said the average daily case rate in Stonington fell to 84.7 and in North Stonington the case rate dropped to 114.1. Both communities had previously seen their daily rates climb to almost 200 as numbers spiked over the holiday season.

“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,” said Stephen Mansfield, director of health.

“Ledge Light Health District advises all businesses and community members to take direct steps to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in your business, home, and place of work,” he said. “We encourage everyone to adopt masking policies for employees and customers, regardless of vaccination status.”

While the number of cases is continuing to decline, some communities are still struggling to control the spread of the virus. As of the period ending Jan. 29, New London still had an average daily case rate of 148.4.

Since the start of the pandemic, data provided by the Ledge Light Health District and Connecticut Department of Health shows that there have been 2,792 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Stonington including 50 which resulted in deaths. North Stonington has had 837 cases since the start of the pandemic, including that resulted in a COVID-19 associated death.

In the coming weeks, Ledge Light officials said the agency would continue to focus on vaccination efforts for 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/.

For more information including complete Connecticut COVID data, visit https://data.ct.gov/stories/s/COVID-19-data/wa3g-tfvc/.