South Kesteven's 7-day infection rate has risen but remains around a fifth of the England average.

The district recorded six Covid-19 cases today, compared with 5 yesterday, 5 on Monday and 5 over the weekend.

Two cases were recorded last Wednesday and two the Wednesday before.

The latest numbers mean the 7-day rate also almost halved over the past week and is just above a fifth of the England average.

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

South Kesteven now has a 7-day case rate of 10.5 cases per 100,000 (up from 8.4 yesterday), based on a recorded 15 cases, which compares with the England average of 47.7, which is rising slowly.

Whilst the district figures fluctuate, the latest figures are among 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 7676 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 more than two weeks ago puts the district's death tally on 267. This is equivalent to about one-in-600 residents, which is better than the England average of one-in-500 residents.

Overall, there have been 52 new coronavirus cases and no COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday – 30 more than the 22 cases last Wednesday, and six more than (yesterday) Tuesday.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 24 new cases in Lincolnshire, 19 in North East Lincolnshire and nine in North Lincolnshire.

No further coronavirus deaths were registered on Wednesday. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

NHS England has also reported no new local deaths across Greater Lincolnshire's hospitals.

On Wednesday, national cases increased by 7,540 to 4,535,754 – the highest case number since late February – while deaths rose by six to 127,860.

In local news, since Monday, Greater Lincolnshire's infection rate has risen along with the England average.

Just South Holland and Boston have seen decreases in their rates, while West Lindsey and South Kesteven have remained the same.

The other five districts have seen an infection rate increase with North East Lincolnshire now having the highest rate in Greater Lincolnshire.

In national headlines, more than one million people booked a COVID-19 vaccine through the NHS website on Tuesday – a record high.

The landmark came on the day that bookings were opened up to those aged 25 to 29 and appear to have put to rest any suggestions that younger people might be reluctant to be vaccinated.

Around eight in 10 adults in most parts of the UK have COVID-19 antibodies, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

An estimated 80.3% of adults in England now have signs of immunity from either a vaccine or having had the virus in the past, blood test results for the week beginning May 17 suggest.

Dominic Cummings has yet to provide evidence to back up the claims he made in a marathon session on the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic, MPs have said.

Boris Johnson's former chief adviser claimed that the prime minister treated COVID-19 like a "scare story", Health Secretary Matt Hancock should have been "sacked for lying", and many ministers were "literally skiing" as the pandemic was developing early last year.

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday, June 9

9,809 in North Lincolnshire (up nine)

2,196 deaths (no change)

1,621 from Lincolnshire (no change)

268 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)

41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)

453 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)