South Kesteven has today recorded it's first Covid death in ten days.

In the latest figures, released this afternoon, the death recorded in the district was the first since Monday March 8.

It gives a grand total for South Kesteven of 264 cases, which is almost one for each 500 residents. The England average is just above at about one-in-500.

The 7-day rate has again risen slightly, but it comes amid a backdrop of vastly increased testing nationally.

Some 103 cases have now been recorded in South Kesteven over the past week, compared with 80 in the week to last Wednesday.

This gives the district a 7-day rate of 72.3 cases per 100,000, which is higher than the England average of 58.7, which rose slightly from 58.6 yesterday, but is substantially down in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, there have been 173 new coronavirus cases and seven COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday — compared to 200 cases and five deaths last Wednesday.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 111 new cases in Lincolnshire, 39 in North Lincolnshire and 23 in North East Lincolnshire.

On Wednesday, four deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, two in North East 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 on Wednesday at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust.

On Wednesday, national cases increased by 5,758 to 4,274,579, while deaths rose by 141 to 125,831.

This comes as more than 25 million people have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in the UK, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock calling it "an extraordinary feat".

The coronavirus vaccination programme has been in operation for 100 days, and people aged 50 and over are now being invited to book their first dose.

Wednesday March 17 marks 100 days since the NHS administered the first ever dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the UK, when Margaret Keenan was vaccinated on December 8, 2020.

The milestone comes alongside news that people aged 50 or over are now being invited by the NHS to accept the vaccine and book an appointment.

Special trees have been planted outside Lincoln County and Boston Pilgrim hospitals this week in memory of those affected by the pandemic and to mark a year since the first coronavirus patient in Lincolnshire.

Since March 17, 2020, ULHT has seen a total number of 2,981 COVID inpatient cases, with 2,075 COVID patients have been discharged during that time.

Greater Lincolnshire has seen an increase in its infection rate since Monday, passing 100 infections per 100,000 people.

All districts have seen a rise since Monday with only South Holland seeing a small decrease.

North East Lincolnshire currently stands at 6th in the UK for highest infection rate and is more than twice the rate of North Kesteven which sits 133rd nationally.

Since Monday, the England average infection rate has remained the same at 58.7.

In national news, The health department was a "smoking ruin" in the early days of the COVID pandemic, the prime minister's former chief aide has told MPs.

Dominic Cummings revealed how the UK's vaccine programme was moved out of Matt Hancock's Department of Health and Social Care following the problems health officials had in buying protective equipment for NHS staff.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has threatened to block vaccine exports to the UK and other countries with markedly higher rollouts of coronavirus jabs.

The EU's delivery of COVID vaccines has been slower compared with the UK rollout, where nearly 25 million adults have now had their first dose.

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday, March 17

8,522 in North Lincolnshire (up 39)

2,144 deaths (up seven)

1,579 from Lincolnshire (up four)

265 from North East Lincolnshire (up two)

41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)

443 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)