The 7-day Covid-19 infection rate in South Kesteven has dipped a little, suggesting it may have peaked.

Official government figures recorded 11 cases in the district today, half of the 22 recorded yesterday and half of the 22 recorded on Monday.

This gives a grand total of 7344 since the start of the pandemic- equivalent to one case for almost 20 residents.

South Kesteven has recorded 163 cases in the past week, down from 164 in the week to yesterday. This gives a 7-day case rate of 114.4, which is more than double the England average of 54.9 cases per 100,000.

In recent weeks, the number of weekly cases has risen from a low of 80 a week about three weeks ago. Yesterday's weekly rate was the highest for a month and with the halving of daily totals for two days, the weekly rate may be on its way back down again.

All this comes amid a background of much higher testing, including of children at school. New testing services for people without symptoms, starting next week, may also keep numbers high or even increase them.

South Kesteven's 7-day rate now means about one-in-900 residents will have tested positive with the virus in the past week, compared with about one-in-1800 nationally.

Meanwhile, South Kesteven has gone another day without a death- keeping the total at 265. This amounts to about one-in-500 of the population and is similar to the national average.

Overall, there have been 4,493 coronavirus cases and 100 COVID-related deaths recorded in Greater Lincolnshire in March, down 20% on February's total cases which saw 5,412, and half as many deaths – 100 compared to 208.

On Wednesday, the government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 71 new cases in Lincolnshire, 34 in North Lincolnshire and 24 in North East Lincolnshire.

Three deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, three in North Lincolnshire and none in North East Lincolnshire. 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 in Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday for the second day in a row. 76 deaths occurred in hospitals in March, over a third down from 111 in February.

Wednesday has seen national cases increase by 4,052 to 4,345,788, with deaths rising by 43 to 126,713.

In local news, over 3,300 people have waited at least a year to be treated in Lincolnshire hospitals in February this year, compared to just one in February 2020.

Lincolnshire's Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said Lincolnshire was below the national average for its waiting list numbers and every patient was prioritised based on clinical need as opposed to date order.

Three rapid COVID testing centres in Lincoln and Boston will close, but a new site is expected to open in the city, as the government appears to scale back lateral flow testing in Lincolnshire.

Lincoln will lose both the Sincil Bank Stadium and Croft Street rapid testing centres, but a new site is expected to open at a yet undisclosed location.

Lincolnshire health bosses said Lincoln City Football Club has been "exemplary" in how it handled COVID-19, but the club has been left struggling with numbers as one match was cancelled and another hangs in the balance.

A club statement this morning said a "number of players and staff" testing positive meant that the Good Friday fixture against MK Dons had been postponed.

Greater Lincolnshire has seen a fall in its infection rates since Wednesday, along with the England average.

Despite a fall in its infection rate, North Lincolnshire still leads in the region. It is thought the high infection rate is due to more testing with schools returning. LDRS has sought clarification from North Lincolnshire Council.

Boston, South Kesteven and North Kesteven have seen increases in their rates with the other six districts seeing a fall since Wednesday. In national news, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is safe and 100% effective in children as young as 12, its manufacturers have said. The two firms have carried out vaccine trials in the US on 12 to 15-year-olds, which they say were successful.

More than 3.7 million people in England and Wales have been told that after today they no longer need to shield from the coronavirus.

From Thursday, the extremely clinically vulnerable, including cancer patients having chemotherapy and stem cell transplant recipients, should follow the same rules as the rest of the population.

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday, March 31

57,976 cases (up 129) 40,489 in Lincolnshire (up 71)

9,031 in North Lincolnshire (up 34)

8,456 in North East Lincolnshire (up 24) 2,174 deaths (up six) 1,604 from Lincolnshire (up three)

303 from North Lincolnshire (up three)

267 from North East Lincolnshire (no change) of which 1,296 hospital deaths (no change) 805 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (no change)

41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)

1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)

449 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)

4,345,788 cases, 126,713 deaths