South Kesteven has suffered a further sharp rise in cases, strengthening its lead as Lincolnshire's Covid-19 hotspot.

The district recorded 102 cases today, giving it a grand total of 4492 cases since the start of the pandemic.

This amounts to almost one in 30 of its residents have been recorded as having suffered with the virus.

Today's number of cases gives South Kesteven a 7-day rate of 413.6 cases per 100,000, based on the 589 cases recorded in the district over the past week.

It means around one-in-200 of the county's population have reportedly picked up the virus in the past week.

The number of deaths remained at 135, about one in a thousand of the district's population.

Overall, there have been 546 new coronavirus cases and 20 COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 426 new cases in Lincolnshire, 69 in North Lincolnshire and 51 in North East Lincolnshire. Local cases have hit 40,000 mark since the pandemic started.

On Wednesday, 13 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 nine new local hospital deaths on Wednesday, including seven at United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust and two at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLAG).

The total number of hospital deaths in Greater Lincolnshire has now surpassed 900 since the start of the pandemic.

On Wednesday, national cases increased by a record 62,322 to 2,836,801, while deaths rose by 1,041 to 77,346 – the highest number of daily COVID deaths since April 21, 2020.

In local news, Gainsborough MP Sir Edward Leigh has called for more people to be reliant on themselves over fears that "every successive lockdown is less and less effective".

This comes as there are currently 324 patients with coronavirus in hospitals across Greater Lincolnshire.

GCSE and A-Level exams due to take place this summer have been cancelled and will be replaced by teacher assessments as the coronavirus pandemic and the latest national lockdown continues to impact education.

The PM told the House of Commons on Wednesday that the end of England's lockdown will not happen with a "big bang" but will instead be a "gradual unwrapping".

Greater Lincolnshire has seen an increase in infection rates across all districts except West Lindsey which has seen a slight decrease from 247.7 per 100,000 people on Monday to 246.7 on Wednesday.

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday, January 6

40,149 cases (up 546)

27,371 in Lincolnshire (up 426)

6,477 in North Lincolnshire (up 69)

6,301 in North East Lincolnshire (up 51)

1,515 deaths (up 20)

1,066 from Lincolnshire (up 13)

240 from North Lincolnshire (up six)

209 from North East Lincolnshire (up one)

of which 901 hospital deaths (up nine)

537 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up seven)

23 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)

1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)

340 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up two) 2,836,801 UK cases, 77,346 deaths