The number of Covid-19 cases recorded in South Kesteven has halved in about a week, giving the district a 7-day infection rate about a third of the national average.

The district's record contrasts with the national situation which is reporting rising cases and deaths again.

South Kesteven recorded four cases today, giving it a 7-day case rate of 10.5 cases per 100,000, which compares with the England average of 34.5, which is rising slowly.

Yesterday, South Kesteven also recorded four cases, compared with two on Thursday, two on Wednesday and -1 on Tuesday, which will have been a 'correction' of earlier recorded figures, and one on Monday, the last time Nub News recorded the figures.

Overall, the 7-day rate has fallen from 22.5 cases per 100,000 last Friday, to 17.6 on Monday, 11.9 yesterday and 10.5 today.

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

The grand total of 7658 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.

There were no deaths recorded in the district but the first fatality in nearly 6 weeks two weeks ago 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.

Overall, there has been a 14% fall in COVID-19 cases in the week to Friday, but one extra COVID-related death in Greater Lincolnshire compared to last week.

The latest figures show there have been 129 coronavirus cases in the week to Friday and one death — compared to 150 cases and no deaths last week.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard on Friday recorded 22 new cases in Lincolnshire, 10 in North East Lincolnshire and six in North Lincolnshire.

NHS England has reported no local hospital deaths in Greater Lincolnshire's four health trusts so far this week, down from three this time last week.

On Friday, national COVID cases increased by 6,238 to 4,506,018 — the highest daily case increase for over two months — while deaths rose by 11 to 127,823.

Today, national cases rose by 5,765 to 4,511,669 and deaths rose 13 to 127,836. Last Saturday recorded 7 deaths.

In local news, since Wednesday, Greater Lincolnshire has seen further falls in its infection rate, which now stands at just 16.4 per 100,000 of the population.

All districts have seen a fall in the last two days, except North Lincolnshire, which has seen a small spike.

Our region remains well below the England average which has once again seen an infection rate rise.

In national news, England's R number has risen slightly to between 1 and 1.2, up from between 1 and 1.1 last week.

This means for every 10 people with COVID, they will pass the virus on to between 10 and 12 others.

The UK's medicines regulator has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the decision followed a "rigorous review" of safety and effectiveness in that age group – and that the benefits of having the COVID jab outweighed the risks.

Today (Saturday), the number of those vaccinated has now topped 40 million.

The COVID-19 infection rate in England has almost doubled in a week and is at its highest level since the week ending April 16, the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows.

Around one in 640 people in private households in England had COVID-19 in the week to 29 May – up from one in 1,120 in the previous week, according to the Office for National Statistics.

This is the highest level since the week to 16 April and represents a 76.5% increase.

Portugal has questioned the UK's decision to remove it from the travel green list from Tuesday.

The move to the amber list means UK tourists should not visit the country and returnees must isolate for 10 days.

60,728 cases (up 38)

42,159 in Lincolnshire (up 22)

8,793 in North East Lincolnshire (up 10)

2,195 deaths (up one)

1,620 from Lincolnshire (up one)

268 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)

of which 1,310 hospital deaths (no change)

815 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (no change)

1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)