The 7-day case in South Kesteven has almost doubled over the past week as 78 cases of Covid-19 were recorded over the weekend.

But once more, there were no deaths, the the last fatality related to the virus in the district being on Wednesday May 5.

The last fatality priority to that was Tuesday March 25, showing South Kesteven has experienced just two deaths with Covid-19 in more than 14 weeks.

The weekend's 78 positive tests compares with 44 last weekend and 27 the weekend before that.

The 7-day rate is now 153.8 cases per 100,000, compared 79.3 last Sunday and 40 the Sunday before that.

However, despite the rate doubling over the past week, it remains below half the England average of 301.5 cases per 100,000.

The England average 7-day rate has steadily risen in recent weeks, while the South Kesteven figure has tended to fluctuate at a much reduced level before creeping upwards.

The figures come as testing has been ramped up significantly across the country, with 1.1 million tests taking place on Saturday alone and 7.3 million tests over the past week.

Overall, there were 3,452 new cases of coronavirus in Greater Lincolnshire last week, an increase of almost 50% week-on-week, as the Prime Minister is set to confirm rule changes later on Monday.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard over the weekend reported 548 new cases in Lincolnshire, 419 in North East Lincolnshire and 148 in North Lincolnshire. The overall figure is 45.5% higher than last week's 2,373 cases.

In positive news, Lincolnshire hospitals have not reported a coronavirus-related death in 37 days, and for 22 days in North Lincolnshire.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to hold a news conference on Monday evening, where he will confirm the coronavirus rules to be relaxed from July 19.

The changes will see almost all restrictions lifted, including:

The end of one metre-plus social distancing

The limits on visitors to care homes will be lifted

The legal limits on people meeting indoors and outdoors will be removed

All businesses will be allowed to reopen, including night clubs

The request to work from home where possible will also be scrapped

No COVID certificate will be required to enter any venue or event – though businesses may choose to require some way to show COVID status

However, changes to mask rules have caused a stir, and the government has backtracked slightly this weekend, urging people to wear them indoors – though there still won't be any official rules to do so.

Health ministers said they trust the British people to take personal responsibility for their safety and that of others.

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire up to (including) Sunday, July 11

10,759 in North Lincolnshire (up 148)

302 from North Lincolnshire (no change)

43 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)

454 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)

5,121,245 UK cases, 128,425 deaths