South Kesteven recorded just one case of Covid-19 yesterday compared with two on Wednesday.

However, due to the methodology used, the figure caused a rise in the 7-day infection rate, based on 32 cases recorded over the past week.

There were no deaths recorded in the district 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.

Thursday's single case compares with ten last week and five the Thursday before.

South Kesteven now has a 7-day infection rate of 22.5 compared with 19 on Wednesday and 11.2 last Thursday.

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

The England average is a more stable 23.6 cases per 100,000 population, though of course it has substantially fallen in recent months.

The grand total of 7635 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 32 coronavirus cases but no COVID-related deaths reported in Greater Lincolnshire on Thursday, down from 50 cases and one death this time last week.

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

No deaths were reported in Lincolnshire on Thursday. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

However, NHS England registered two new local hospital deaths at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, as data is sourced both from the NHS and Gov UK.

National cases increased by 3,542 to 4,473,677, while deaths rose by 10 to 127,758.

In local news, three quarters of Lincolnshire residents have now had their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Data released on Thursday shows altogether 767,588 jabs have been administered in the county between December 8 and May 23 — a further 45,801 in the last week, and 1.9% up on the 44,936 jabs given the week before.

However, Lincolnshire is still waiting for more COVID-19 Pfizer vaccines as under 40s have been forced to travel outside the county to get their jab.

Last week, Lincolnshire's NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) apologised after a Lincoln resident under the age of 40 was turned away at the Showground vaccination site due to the unavailability of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.

In national headlines, production of the coronavirus vaccine developed by French firm Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline(GSK) will begin within weeks, the firms have said.

The two companies are currently in phase three of their trials, which will see 35,000 adult volunteers receive their coronavirus jab across the US, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has denied claims he lied about the COVID pandemic after a scathing attack by Dominic Cummings, saying "we have been straight with people".

Mr Hancock said: "These allegations that were put yesterday… are serious allegations and I welcome the opportunity to come to the house to put formally on the record that these unsubstantiated allegations around honesty are not true."

The vaccination programme in Northern Ireland is now open for everyone aged 18 and over, the Department of Health said.

More than 70% of the adult population of Northern Ireland have now had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 40% have had two doses.

60,533 cases (up 32)

42,036 in Lincolnshire (up 21)

8,753 in North East Lincolnshire (up five)

2,194 deaths (no change)

1,619 from Lincolnshire (no change)

268 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)

of which 1,310 hospital deaths (up two)

815 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (no change)

1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)