There have been 136 new coronavirus cases and eight COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Tuesday – down from 145 cases and 20 deaths this time last week.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 96 new cases in Lincolnshire, 21 in North East Lincolnshire and 19 in North Lincolnshire.

Among the districts, South Kesteven recorded 8 cases, putting it on 6716 (about one case in 25 residents) since the start of the pandemic.

However, over a week, the number of cases increased from 179 yesterday to 183 today, compared with a recent low of 155 last Thursday.

The 7-day rate increased from 125.7 cases per 100,000 to 128.5 cases per 100,000, which compares to an England average of 122.7 cases per 100,000.

The number of deaths increased 2 to 248- about one-in-600 of South Kesteven's population.

Overall, there have been 136 new coronavirus cases and eight COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Tuesday — down from 145 cases and 20 deaths this time last week.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 96 new cases in Lincolnshire, 21 in North East Lincolnshire and 19 in North Lincolnshire.

On Tuesday, seven deaths were registered in Lincolnshire and one 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 one new local hospital death at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust.

On Tuesday, national cases increased by 8,489 to 4,134,639, deaths rose by 548 to 121,305 while COVID first jab numbers hit nearly 18 million.

In local news, Lincolnshire health bosses are "very optimistic" that lockdown restrictions will be eased on time as there's a "good chance" all four COVID precautionary tests will be met — but warned "this isn't over yet".

Lincolnshire County Council's assistant director of public health Andy Fox praised the government's "intelligent" five-week gap in between each eased restriction, so that they can decide if freedoms needs pausing.

This comes as Monday saw Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing his roadmap out of the third lockdown which will start with schools opening on March 8 and non-essential shops open by April 12.

Students in secondary schools will have to do two rapid flow COVID-19 tests a week when they return to school on March 8.

Home testing will occur twice weekly for secondary school pupils, though no testing has yet been planned for primary schools.

Local business bosses said jobs still hang "by a thread" in Lincolnshire despite the PM's lockdown easing roadmap, but can see "some light at the end of a very dark tunnel".

Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, will announce details of his spring budget next week (March 3), where he is predicted to extend the furlough scheme until at least May.

East Lindsey currently has the lowest infection rate in Greater Lincolnshire which Andy Fox put this down to a "couple of factors".

"One is that they have an ageing population, compared to other areas in Lincolnshire.

"We think those people are often very willing to just stay at home and to follow the lockdown measures […] but more importantly, you might just be starting to see the impact of vaccination coverage."

In national news, everybody has to "play their part" to meet the dates for England's lockdown to be eased, Matt Hancock has said.

But it is currently "too early" to say how long social distancing will be in place, the health secretary said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is optimistic that he will be able to remove all coronavirus restrictions in England by June 21 under his four-stage plan for lifting lockdown.

Under his roadmap for easing COVID measures, the prime minister hopes "all legal limits on social contact can be removed" under the last of those four stages, to come on June 21 at the earliest.

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Tuesday, February 23

7,924 in North Lincolnshire (up 19)

298 from North Lincolnshire (up one)

41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)

416 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)

4,134,639 UK cases, 121,305 deaths