A further plunge in South Kesteven's 7-day infection rate has been confirmed by official government figures today.

Seven cases were recorded today but the total over the past week is just 27, compared with 53 in the week to last Tuesday and 65 in the week to the Tuesday before that.

This gives South Kesteven a 7-day infection rate of 19 cases per 100,000, compared with an England average of 25.2, which has risen slightly today amid a general increase of testing.

This is the lowest since last year and less than a tenth of figures earlier in the year when at times it exceeded 400 cases per 100,000.

Overall, South Kesteven has seen 7529 recorded cases since the start of the pandemic- which is about one for every 20 residents.

The number of deaths has remained at 266 for almost three weeks. This means that around one-in-600 residents have died within 28 days of a positive test since the pandemic started, which compares with an England average of one-in-500.

Overall, there have been 60 new coronavirus cases and one COVID-related death in Greater Lincolnshire on Tuesday – up from 35 cases and no deaths this time last week.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 40 new cases in Lincolnshire, 17 in North Lincolnshire and three in North East Lincolnshire.

On Tuesday, one death was registered in North Lincolnshire, none in North East Lincolnshire but -3 in Lincolnshire. Fluctuations in data are usually due to some deaths in those areas being reallocated to other regions across the UK or a miscount. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

NHS England reported no new local hospital deaths across Greater Lincolnshire for the ninth day in a row.

On Tuesday, national cases increased by 2,685 to 4,409,631, while deaths rose by 17 to 127,451. In local news, Lincolnshire has the third highest vaccine rate in the country, as NHS bosses open up jabs to those aged 42 and over. More than 68% of the county's residents have now been given at least their first dose, with a fifth of the county also now receiving their second jab. New supervised rapid coronavirus testing centres have been officially opened in Gainsborough and Market Rasen. They are located at West Lindsey Leisure Centre in Gainsborough and Festival Hall in Market Rasen. Over the weekend, Greater Lincolnshire's infection rate has seen a further fall in general, but still remains above the England average. However, five of the nine districts have seen small increases in their infection rates: North Lincolnshire, West Lindsey, East Lindsey, Lincoln and North Kesteven. North Lincolnshire has overtaken Boston with the highest infection rate in Greater Lincolnshire and is ranked 11th nationally. In national news, medical supplies from the UK arrived in India on Tuesday – the first international shipment aimed at stemming a devastating COVID-19 surge. Ventilators and oxygen equipment landed in Delhi, but far more will be needed, with many hospitals overwhelmed and people waiting in the streets outside. All 85,000-plus COVID fines issued in England during the pandemic should be reviewed, MPs and peers have said, after more than a quarter of prosecutions in the first two months of the year for breaching the regulations were shown to have been wrongly brought. The joint committee on human rights said coronavirus regulations, which have been changed at least 65 times since March last year, were muddled, discriminatory and unfair. Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Tuesday, April 27

59,445 cases (up 60)

41,325 in Lincolnshire (up 40)

9,454 in North Lincolnshire (up 17)

8,666 in North East Lincolnshire (up three)

2,186 deaths (up one)

1,612 from Lincolnshire (down three)

306 from North Lincolnshire (up one)

268 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)

of which 1,303 hospital deaths (no change)

811 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (no change)

41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)

1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)

450 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change) 4,409,631 UK cases, 127,451 deaths