South Kesteven is now Lincolnshire's COVID-19 hotspot, according to official government figures.

The district record 149 cases during Saturday and Sunday, giving it a grand total of 4193 cases since the start of the pandemic.

This is equivalent to about one-in-thirty of South Kesteven's population having recorded cases since then.

South Kesteven has reported 508 cases over the past week, giving it a 7-day rate of 356.7 per 100,000, which is higher than any other district in the county.

The weekend also saw the number of deaths increase by 6 to 132, which is about 1 for every thousand of South Kesteven's population.

Overall, Greater Lincolnshire's infection rate has slightly risen from 232.4 on Friday to 238.2 on Sunday, well below the highest rate which now belongs to South Kesteven.

Boston has fallen in ranking and is now sixth out of the nine districts in Greater Lincolnshire after being the second nationally at the end of November.

North and North East Lincolnshire remain the lowest infection rates (besides East Lindsey), confirming their tier 3 allocation.

Furthermore, there were 876 new coronavirus cases and 19 COVID-related deaths reported in Greater Lincolnshire over the weekend.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 643 new cases in Lincolnshire across Saturday and Sunday, 140 in North Lincolnshire and 93 in North East Lincolnshire.

By the end of Sunday, 12 deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, six in North Lincolnshire and one in North East Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

NHS England reported 10 new local hospital deaths at United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust, six at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust and one at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals.

On Saturday, the UK recorded its highest number of COVID-19 cases ever, 57,725. The weekend saw national cases increase to 2,654,779, while deaths rose to 75,024.

On Monday morning, an 82-year-old man has become the first person in the world to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine since it was approved for UK use.

Six thousand of the Oxford vaccines are headed for Lincolnshire, while some 7,000 of the Pfizer vaccines have been administered locally.

However, despite this progress, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that he "does not rule out" another national lockdown due to the high number of cases and deaths each day.

Boris Johnson said regional restrictions in England are "probably about to get tougher".

Thousands of parents in England are confused over whether or not they can take their children to school this week.

As a result, the government faces a major revolt from teachers and headteachers over its plan to reopen schools.

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Sunday, January 3

38,786 cases (up 876) 26,300 in Lincolnshire (up 643)

6,302 in North Lincolnshire (up 140)

6,184 in North East Lincolnshire (up 93) 1,474 deaths (up 19) 1,038 from Lincolnshire (up 12)

228 from North Lincolnshire (up six)

208 from North East Lincolnshire (up one) of which 879 hospital deaths (up 17) 521 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up 10)

23 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (up one)

1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)

334 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up six)

Overall, the UK has seen 2,654,779 cases and 75,024 deaths since the start of the pandemic.