Coronavirus crisis: South Kesteven rate remains below half national average

The daily number of Covid-19 cases in South Kesteven increased on Friday, but the weekly rate fell yesterday fallen as it bobs up and down this week.

South Kesteven recorded 12 cases yesterday, compared with 7 on Thursday, 9 on Wednesday, and six on Tuesday.

Last Friday, the district recorded 13 cases, there were 4 the previous Friday and 5 the Friday before that.

This means the 7-day rate for South Kesteven has dropped from 42.1 cases per 100,000 of population on Thursday to 40 yesterday. Last Friday it stood at 35.1 cases per 100,000.

The district's 7-day rate is still less than half of the England 7-day case rate of 105.2 cases per 100,000 people- about 1 case for every thousand people.

South Kesteven now has a recorded 7805 cases since the start of the pandemic- about one for each 20 residents, which compares with the England average of one for each 15 residents.

The number of reported deaths remains at 270, following an 'increase' by 3 last Wednesday due to changes in how the figures were calculated, rather than any actual deaths.

The last death in South Kesteven was about a month ago and the district has recorded two deaths in more than 2 months.

Overall, coronavirus cases in Greater Lincolnshire have almost doubled so far this week, as government ministers reel from the latest scandal involving the health secretary.

The latest figures show there have been 778 coronavirus cases so far this week while deaths have increased by one — a cases increase of 84% compared to the 422 cases last week, and three fewer deaths.

COVID rates are now spiking in the young population in Lincolnshire, as health bosses plea with people to take advantage of a big vaccine push this month.

Lincolnshire's director of public health Professor Derek Ward said infection rates among the 20-24-year-olds had risen from around 25-26 per 100,000 population at the beginning of June to a current figure of 260.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard on Friday recorded 85 new cases in Lincolnshire, 75 in North East Lincolnshire and 17 in North Lincolnshire.

There were no deaths reported in government figures, however this week has seen one death recorded. .

NHS England reported no local hospital deaths in Greater Lincolnshire's four health trusts on Friday, but have confirmed one so far this week.

On Friday, national COVID cases increased by 15,810 to 4,699,868 while deaths rose by 18 to 128,066.

Professor Ward also said an anti-vaxxer chasing Boston-born Professor Jonathan Van-Tam was "abhorrent" and "shouldn't happen full stop." He said no-one should be "harangued" for doing their job.

Professor Van Tam, who is England's deputy chief medical officer, was chased on video by Geza Tarjanyi, while entering the Ministry of Defence building on Tuesday.

National news organisations have, on Friday, been focussed on an affair between Health Secretary Matt Hancock and his aide Gina Coladengelo.

A CCTV photo published by The Sun and showing the pair kissing was taken on May 6, when England was still under Stage 2 of COVID restrictions and prohibited gatherings of two or more people indoors.

Mr Hancock has apologised and said he had "let people down" by breaking social distancing guidelines he himself had approved.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has accepted the apology and said he "considers the matter closed".

However, opposition parties are calling for Mr Hancock to step down – calling his position "hopelessly untenable" and saying his actions were "a blatant abuse of power and a clear conflict of interest".

Elsewhere, England's R number has stayed the same at between 1.2 and 1.4, in the latest data published by the scientific advisory panel SAGE.

The UK has seen a 46% rise in cases of Delta variant in the week up to June 21, Public Health England has said.

The Office for National Statistics has also noted cases in general have risen to their highest level since early April, with an estimated 153,000 people having COVID in the week up to June 13, 30% more than the week before.

Nearly 97% of positive cases tested for the virus in Lincolnshire have been the Delta variant.

Coronavirus cases in Greater Lincolnshire have almost doubled so far this week, as government ministers reel from the latest scandal involving the health secretary.

COVID rates are now spiking in the young population in Lincolnshire, as health bosses plea with people to take advantage of a big vaccine push this month.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard on Friday recorded 85 new cases in Lincolnshire, 75 in North East Lincolnshire and 17 in North Lincolnshire.

There were no deaths reported in government figures, however this week has seen one death recorded. .

NHS England reported no local hospital deaths in Greater Lincolnshire's four health trusts on Friday, but have confirmed one so far this week.

On Friday, national COVID cases increased by 15,810 to 4,699,868 while deaths rose by 18 to 128,066.

Lincolnshire's coronavirus cases up to June 25.