South Kesteven is bucking the Lincolnshire trend by having a rising 7-day rate, while much of the county continues to enjoy further declines in case numbers.

The district has recorded 108 cases over the past week, giving it a 7-day case rate of 75.8. This compares with 84 cases in the week to last Friday, a low of 80 in the week to last Wednesday and 110 in the Friday prior to that.

This case rate compares with the England average of 58.3 cases per 100,000 of population.

Today, South Kesteven recorded 18 cases, giving a grand total of 7092- equivalent to about one case for every 20 residents.

The number of deaths remains at 264, meaning one death for about 700 residents, which is better than the England average of about one death for every 500 residents.

Meanwhile, there have been 763 new coronavirus cases in Greater Lincolnshire and 15 COVID-related deaths so far this week — compared to 818 cases and 19 deaths by this time last week.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard on Friday recorded 74 new cases in Lincolnshire, 25 in North East Lincolnshire and 46 in North Lincolnshire.

However, the number of deaths reduced by one after a Lincolnshire resident was removed from the data.

These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

Fluctuations in data can occur for a variety of reasons including corrected data, misdiagnoses or wrong addresses.

NHS England reported no new local hospital deaths across Greater Lincolnshire on Friday, meaning the tally so far this week was 14, compared with 15 last week.

It's the first time there has been no deaths in hospitals since March 7.

On Friday, national cases increased by 4,802 to 4,285,684, while deaths rose by 101 to 126,026.

More than half of eligible adults in Lincolnshire have now been given their first dose of COVID-19 vaccination.

The latest data showed that 321,832 of Lincolnshire's estimated 640,000 people aged over 18 have been vaccinated.

However, as Paris faces a third lockdown, there is a warning to Lincolnshire residents not to get too complacent.

Churches and pubs could be turned into collection sites for coronavirus home testing kits as the focus switches more to detecting asymptomatic cases.

The testing sites at the Lincolnshire Showground and Richmond Drive Coach Park in Skegness have already moved to offer just half day of full-COVID tests and then operate as a lateral flow test collection site in the afternoon as part of the national schools programme.

But Lincolnshire's health bosses are now looking at a more local testing set-up over the next couple of weeks utilising existing sites such as Sincil Bank stadium in Lincoln, as well as potential new ones.

Nationally, countries which previously suspended giving out the AstraZeneca vaccine due to concerns over blood clots began to restart their vaccination programmes.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also received his first jab today – the AstraZenica version.

The government has confirmed it is considering using "vaccine passports" to allow large numbers of fans to attend sporting events this summer.

Meanwhile, data from the Office for National Statistics showed the UK saw 7% more deaths than normally expected during 2020.

The UK's latest R number is estimated to be between 0.6 and 0.9, government figures suggest – showing the pandemic is shrinking.

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Friday, March 19

8,607 in North Lincolnshire (up 46)

301 from North Lincolnshire (no change)

41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)

443 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)

4,280,882 UK cases, 125,926 deaths