The 7-day Covid-19 infection rate in South Kesteven has continued to rise and is now more than double the national average.

Official government figures recorded 22 cases in the district today, giving a grand total of 7333 since the start of the pandemic.

South Kesteven has recorded 164 cases in the past week. This gives a 7-day case rate of 115.1, which is more than double the England average of 55.8 cases per 100,000.

In recent weeks, the number of weekly cases has risen from 153 in the week to yesterday, 140 in the week to Sunday, 114 in the week to last Tuesday and 102 in the week to the Tuesday before that. It reached a low of 80 about three weeks ago.

The number of cases been recorded each week is at its highest in a month, contrasting with the national situation where figures are now a fraction of what they were last month.

All this comes amid a background of much higher testing, including of children at school.

South Kesteven's 7-day rate now means about one-in-900 residents will have tested positive with the virus in the past week, compared with about one-in-1800 nationally.

Since the start of the pandemic about one-in-20 will have tested positive at some stage.

Meanwhile, South Kesteven has gone another day without a death- keeping the total at 265. This amounts to about one-in-500 of the population and is similar to the national average.

There have been 101 new coronavirus cases and two COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Tuesday — down from 144 cases and four deaths this time last week.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 68 new cases in Lincolnshire, 26 in North Lincolnshire and seven in North East Lincolnshire.

On Tuesday, one death was registered in Lincolnshire, one 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 has reported no new local hospital deaths – the last time there were no deaths in hospitals was March 19.

On Tuesday, national cases increased by 4,040 to 4,341,736, while deaths rose by 56 to 126,670.

In local news, Lincolnshire residents who have had their first COVID vaccine dose are around 70% protected from the coronavirus, local health bosses have said.

Around 63% of adults in the county have now had their first jab, with the latest data showing 303,445 doses in those over the age of 50. Nationally, more than 30.4 million people have had their initial dose.

People should not get "carried away" as lockdown restrictions are lifted in Lincolnshire, health bosses have said.

Residents need to remember "we are still in a global pandemic", said Lincolnshire County Council's assistant director for public health Andy Fox.

Some 36 Lincolnshire schools reported 61 positive test results in the seven days leading up to Friday, March 26, according to Lincolnshire County Council.

The county council said that between March 12 and 18, 71,146 later flow tests were carried out via schools, of which 85 were positive.

In national news, roughly half of people in the UK now have antibodies against COVID, either through infection or vaccination, tests conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.

Most of this will be through vaccination – with over 30 million people having received at least one dose.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has joined more than 20 world leaders in calling for a new global settlement to help the world prepare for future pandemics.

In a newspaper article the leaders, including the German chancellor and French president, said Covid posed the biggest challenge since World War Two.

The pandemic has shown "nobody is safe until everyone is safe", they said.

8,997 in North Lincolnshire (up 26)

300 from North Lincolnshire (down one)

41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)

449 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)

4,341,736 UK cases, 126,670 deaths