The 7-day Covid-19 infection rate in South Kesteven has shot back up again.

Official government figures recorded 18 cases today, compared with 11 yesterday and 22 each on Monday and Tuesday.

This gives a grand total of 7362 since the start of the pandemic- equivalent to one case for almost 20 residents.

South Kesteven has recorded 172 cases in the past week, compared with 163 cases in the week to yesterday and 164 in the week to Tuesday.

This gives a 7-day case rate of 120.8, which is more than double the England average of 54.2 cases per 100,000.

In recent weeks, the number of weekly cases has risen from a low of 80 a week about three weeks ago. Today's weekly rate was the highest for a month.

All this comes amid a background of much higher testing, including of children at school. New testing services for people without symptoms, starting next week, may also keep numbers high or even increase them.

South Kesteven's 7-day rate now means about one-in-800 residents will have tested positive with the virus in the past week, compared with about one-in-1800 nationally.

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.

Overall, there have been 121 new coronavirus cases and one COVID-related death in Greater Lincolnshire on April Fool's Day, compared to the same number of cases on March 1 but six deaths.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 85 new cases in Lincolnshire, 19 in North East Lincolnshire and 17 in North Lincolnshire on the first day of April.

On Thursday, one death was registered in Lincolnshire and none in Northern Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

NHS England reported one new local hospital death at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust.

National cases increased by 4,479 to 4,350,266, while deaths rose by 51 to 126,764.

In local news, health bosses are warning Lincolnshire people to "avoid the temptation to go indoors" over the Easter weekend "because that's where the COVID-19 risk shoots up".

Guidance has also been given to stay outdoors in open areas with the few people around, as the risk of catching coronavirus is very low in this context.

More than 400,000 Lincolnshire residents have now received their first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, along with more than 31,430 second doses — meaning nearly 70% of the county's eligible population have received a jab.

The weekly data released on Thursday shows altogether 436,083 jabs have taken place between December 8 and March 28 — up 49,607, but a drop in administrations from 51,470 the week prior.

In national news, a total of 1.1 million people in the UK have reported having long COVID, latest estimates show.

The data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) defined the condition as symptoms that lasted more than four weeks and are self-reported, rather than clinically diagnosed.

Nearly a third of people who have been in hospital suffering from COVID-19 are readmitted for further treatment within four months of being discharged, and one in eight of patients dies in the same period, doctors have found.

Fewer than one in five people request a COVID-19 test if they have symptoms, while the number who follow full self-isolation rules is low, a large study of the test-and-trace system has found.

The report, published in the British Medical Journal, also found only half of people knew the main COVID symptoms.

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Thursday, April 1

9,048 in North Lincolnshire (up 17)

303 from North Lincolnshire (no change)

41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)

449 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)

4,350,266 UK cases, 126,764 deaths