There have been 279 new coronavirus cases and 36 COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 204 new cases in Lincolnshire, 40 in North East Lincolnshire and 35 in North Lincolnshire.

Among the districts, South Kesteven reported 38 cases, putting it on 2445 in total. Deaths increased 2 to 79.

On Wednesday, 25 deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, seven in North East Lincolnshire and four in North Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

NHS England reported 13 new local hospital deaths on Wednesday, including eight at United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust, three at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust and two at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals.

United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust has now surpassed 300 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

On Wednesday, national cases increased by 16,170 to 1,659,256 while deaths rose by 648 to 59,699.

In local news, Lincolnshire health bosses welcomed the first UK-approved COVID-19 vaccine, which will be rolled out from next week to priority groups such as NHS workers.

Lincolnshire hospitals will not resume patient visits until 2021, except during Christmas. Visiting was suspended on November 5, in line with the second national lockdown, however, this won't change despite the UK leaving the second national lockdown on Wednesday.

The leader of South Holland District Council has apologised to his residents for "failing" to convince government to take the area out of the toughest coronavirus restrictions.

Lord Gary Porter has been one of a number of council leaders in Lincolnshire arguing that it was unfair for the whole of the county to begin in tier three restrictions due to the differences in infection rates across districts.

Matt Hancock has announced a new chapter for COVID-19 with the launch of the Pfizer vaccine from next week. The health secretary said in the House of Commons today that the vaccine is "particularly challenging to deploy" due to its storage temperature of -70.

Later in the evening Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned there would still be some months before everyone could get a jab. He acknowledged that would mean "continued hardship" and it will "continue to be tough" for some sectors until the vaccine is deployed.

"Our plan does rely on all of us continuing to make sacrifices to protect those we love so please continue to follow the rules where you live, remember, had hands, face, space, and if you live in a tier three area where community testing will be made available, please take part in that.

"Together, these steps are, for now, the surest way to protect yourselves, and those you love, and by reducing the transmission of the virus, help de-escalate your area to a lower level of restrictions."

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire for Wednesday, December 2

27,121 cases (up 279)

17,053 in Lincolnshire (up 204)

5,237 in North East Lincolnshire (up 40)

931 deaths (up 36)

610 from Lincolnshire (up 25)

156 from North East Lincolnshire (up seven)

of which 568 hospital deaths (up 13)

306 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up eight)

1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)