South Kesteven continues to record fewer Covid-19 cases, reflecting national trends.

The district today recorded 16 cases today, compared with 12 cases yesterday, compared with 9 cases on both Monday and Tuesday, but with the numbers being well-down on last week, the 7-day rate continues to fall significantly.

The district recorded 125 cases in the week to Thursday, compared with 132 cases in the week to Wednesday, 143 cases in the week to Tuesday and 158 in the week to Monday.

The 7-day case rate for South Kesteven is now 87.8 cases per 100,000, just above the England average of 86.4, which is also falling rapidly.

The district's 16 cases gives a grand total of 6859 since the start of the pandemic- about one in 20 of South Kesteven's population.

The number of recorded deaths today remained increased one to 256 since the start of the pandemic- about one-in-600 of South Kesteven's population.

Overall, there have been 114 new coronavirus cases and six COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Thursday.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 81 new cases in Lincolnshire, 16 in North East Lincolnshire and 17 in North Lincolnshire.

On Thursday, four deaths were registered in Lincolnshire and one each in North and 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 three new local hospital deaths on Thursday, two at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust and one at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust.

National cases increased by 6,573 to 4,201,358, while deaths rose by 242 to 124,025.

In local news, nearly a fifth of all Lincolnshire residents have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The latest NHS England figures show that more than 271,604 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Lincolnshire so far — of which were 5,281 second doses. According to the ONS Population Estimates for mid-2019, there were around 1,391,150 people in Lincolnshire, with 266,323 people receiving their first dose — that equates 19.14%. Nationally, there has been a decline in the number of infections in England. However the World Health Organisation has said it is seeing a "resurgance in central and eastern Europe". Health minister Lord Bethell said the UK is the country most likely to suffer a new variant of the coronavirus. Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Thursday, March 4

53,996 cases (up 81)

38,091 in Lincolnshire (up 81)

8,126 in North Lincolnshire (up 17)

7,779 in North East Lincolnshire (up 16)

2,098 deaths (up six)

1,542 from Lincolnshire (up four)

300 from North Lincolnshire (no one)

256 from North East Lincolnshire (up one)

of which 1,238 hospital deaths (up three)

767 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up one)

41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)

1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)

429 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up two) 4,201,358 UK cases, 124,025 deaths