South Kesteven has reported a sharp drop in its 7-day case rate, as national confirmed cases are at their lowest since October.

The district recorded 9 cases today, giving it a grand total of 6822 since the start of the pandemic- about one case for each 20 residents.

The number of cases in the week to Monday is now 158, compared with 179 in the week to Sunday and 179 last Monday.

This gives a 7-day case rate today of 110.9, which is just below the England average of 102.9 cases per 100,000.

The number of recorded deaths in South Kesteven increased one to 253- about one-in-600 of the district's residents.

Overall, there have been 121 new coronavirus cases and six COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on the first day of March, compared to 213 cases and six deaths on February 1.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 80 new cases in Lincolnshire, 22 in North East Lincolnshire and 19 in North Lincolnshire.

Four deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, two in North East Lincolnshire and -1 in North 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 four new local hospital deaths at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and two at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust.

National cases increased by 5,455 to 4,182,009, while deaths rose by 104 to 122,953. This comes as over 20.2 million have received their first COVID vaccine dose.

February saw half as many coronavirus cases, deaths and hospital deaths across Greater Lincolnshire than January did, demonstrating the effects of the national lockdown and vaccination programme in the region.

There were 5,412 coronavirus cases and 208 COVID-related deaths recorded in Greater Lincolnshire in February, half as many as January, which saw 10,667 cases and 426 deaths.

A Chapel St Leonards Bar owner is awaiting the results of a review of its license after police said a "business meeting" breached COVID regulations.

Walter Sheeran, director of Teen Spirit Limited and premises licence holder at Miller's Bar appeared before East Lindsey District Council's licensing committee on Monday.

The weekend has seen a small increase in Greater Lincolnshire's infection rate and a decrease in national numbers. Boston and North Lincolnshire are back at their Friday levels with five of the nine authorities seeing an increase. South Holland has the seventh highest infection rate nationally, followed by Boston in 22nd place. In national news, a hunt continues for a person in the UK infected with a coronavirus "variant of concern" from Brazil, with the government accused of "unforgivable incompetence" in managing Britain's borders. The COVID-19 variant, first seen in the city of Manaus, is feared to spread more rapidly than the original virus and could be more capable of evading existing vaccines. Three cases of the P.1 coronavirus variant have been confirmed in England and three in Scotland, Public Health England said. There is no evidence of a difference between school staff testing positive for coronavirus antibodies and the wider working-age population, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The main findings from the Schools Infection Survey come ahead of children going back to classrooms in England next week as part of the first phase of lifting the coronavirus lockdown.

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Monday, March 1

53,604 cases (up 121) 37,835 in Lincolnshire (up 80)

8,066 in North Lincolnshire (up 19)

7,703 in North East Lincolnshire (up 22) 2,079 deaths (up six) 1,528 from Lincolnshire (up four)

299 from North Lincolnshire (down one)

252 from North East Lincolnshire (up two) of which 1,226 hospital deaths (up six) 761 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up four)

41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)

1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)

423 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up two)

4,182,009 UK cases, 122,953 deaths