South Kesteven recorded eight cases today, on top of the four over the weekend.

It means the 7-day infection rate has increased considerably in recent days, but is still below the national average.

There were no deaths recorded today but the first fatality in nearly 6 weeks at the weekend puts the district's death tally on 267, equivalent to about one-in-600 residents, which is better than the England average of one-in-500 residents.

Today's eight cases, compares with four last Monday and three the previous Monday.

This gives the district a 7-day infection rate of 18.3 cases per 100,000, up on the 14.7 for yesterday and 12.6 on Friday and the 14 last Monday, but well down on the 26.7 cases per 100,000 two weeks ago.

Whilst the figures fluctuate, the latest figures remain among the lowest since last year and less than a thirtieth of figures earlier in the year when the weekly rate exceeded 400 cases per 100,000.

The England average is a more stable 22 cases per 100,000 population, though of course it has substantially fallen in recent months.

The grand total of 7629 cases in South Kesteven since the start of the pandemic is equivalent to just over one case per 20 residents. The national average is about one-in-15.

Overall, there have been 42 coronavirus cases in Greater Lincolnshire and no COVID-related deaths on Monday, as our region fell below the England average infection rate. The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 34 new cases in Lincolnshire, five in North Lincolnshire and three in North East Lincolnshire. No coronavirus deaths were registered on Monday.

These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

However, NHS England reported one new hospital death on Monday at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust.

National cases have increased by 2,439 to 4,464,900, while deaths have risen by three to 127,724. Since Friday, Greater Lincolnshire's infection rate has fallen below the England average, at 21.1 per 100,000 of the population, compared to 22 for England, which has risen. Only South and North Kesteven have seen infection rate increases over the weekend, with the other seven districts falling. West Lindsey has the lowest Greater Lincolnshire infection rate of 6.3 and Boston has the highest – 41.3. In national news, the public will likely have to wait longer for details of the government's review of social distancing rules and its proposals for COVID certification due to the growth in cases of the Indian variant. Downing Street signalled Boris Johnson would wait longer to unveil the plans, despite the prime minister having previously promised to provide details by the end of this month. Spain has lifted its restrictions on travellers from the UK in a bid to boost its economy. But the country is still on the UK government's amber list, meaning people should not go unless it is for essential family or business reasons.