There have been 218 new coronavirus cases in Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday and 12 COVID-related deaths.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 150 new cases in Lincolnshire, 40 in North East Lincolnshire and 28 in North Lincolnshire.

Among the districts, South Kesteven, recorded 24 cases today, compared with 15 yesterday and 33 on Monday. This puts the district on 6,399 in total, equivalent to just over one-in-25 people in the district succumbing to the virus at some stage.

The 7-day rate has decreased from 240.1 cases per 100,000 on Friday to 208.5 cases per 100,000- a drop of about a fifth. The number of cases over the past week has fallen from 376 last week to 297 today.

This is reflected nationally, which has seen the England 7-day rate drop from 269.1 cases per 100,000 to 201.5 cases per 100,000 today.

However, South Kesteven recorded three deaths today, after six yesterday, putting the total on 228 fatalities since the start of the pandemic.

Altogether, about one-in-600 residents in the district have died after testing positive with the virus.

On Wednesday, 10 deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, one 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 eight new local hospital deaths, including three at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and five at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLAG).

On Wednesday, national cases increased by 13,013 to 3,985,161, deaths rose by 1,001 to 114,851 while COVID first jab numbers hit 13,058,298.

In other news, tributes have been paid to a Lincolnshire first responder volunteering for the charity LIVES who died of COVID-19. Jannine Tempest had been a community first responder in the Hykeham area, volunteering since 2015.

Some 86 coronavirus-related fines issued by Lincolnshire Police have been withdrawn after being scrutinised, almost 15% of the total.

Also, most areas of Lincolnshire saw universal credit claims more than double last year.

Across the UK, a new study of more than one million people by the Imperial College London  has linked new symptoms including chills, loss of appetite, headache and muscle aches as further signs of COVID-19 infection.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has also defended a 10-year jail sentence for those who lie about their travel at the UK border. He said the the danger from the variants and the difficulty caused made prison sentences "appropriate".

He also refused to "unnecessarily raise people's hopes" that they may be be able to take holidays this year, either in Britain or abroad.