The Covid-19 case rate in Rutland has bounced back somewhat after the plunge in recorded cases which followed a spike caused by an outbreak at HMP Stocken.

Almost two weeks ago the prison outbreak of cases caused the county's 7-day case rate to exceed 500 cases per 100,000 of population- around three times what it was before.

Cases tumbled back to below what they were originally, but they have since nearly doubled.

In the week to Thursday, as well as the week to Friday, Rutland recorded 52 cases, giving it a rate of 130.2 cases per 100,000, which was slightly below the national average, which is also declining rapidly.

But the government's UK Covid-19 tracker recorded 25 cases over the weekend and six more yesterday, giving the county a grad total of 1497 cases on Monday, meaning almost one-in-25 Rutland residents will have had a recorded case of the virus at some time.

This gives a a 7-day case rate of 245.4 in the week to Sunday and 240.4 in the week to yesterday. This compares with yesterday's England average of 125.1 cases per 100,000.

The number of deaths increased by two over the weekend, but none were recorded yesterday. This puts the total of deaths with covid-19 at 57, meaning about one-in-700 of the county's population will have died after testing positive with the virus.

Nearby, in Greater Lincolnshire, 238 new coronavirus cases and five COVID-related deaths were recorded on Monday as the PM announced his roadmap out of lockdown.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 172 new cases in Lincolnshire, 41 in North East Lincolnshire and 25 in North Lincolnshire.

Among the districts, South Kesteven recorded 32 cases ,putting it on 6708, equivalent to almost one case for each 25 district residents.

Over the past seven days, the district has recorded 179 cases, which compares with a low of 155 in the week to Thursday. In the days before then, the numbers were falling rapidly.

The 7-day rate for South Kesteven is now 125.7 cases per 100,000, which is slightly above the England average of 125.1, which maintained its downward trend.

This means about one in 800 South Kesteven residents will have tested positive with the virus over the past week, according to the government's UK Covid-19 tracker.

Today, South Kesteven recorded one death, giving a grand total of 245, about one in 600 of the district's population.

Overall, Five deaths were registered in Lincolnshire and none in Northern Lincolnshire on Monday. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

National cases increased by 10,641 to 4,126,150, while deaths rose by 178 to 120,757. This comes as over 17.7 million received their first COVID vaccine dose.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced his roadmap out of the third lockdown which will start with schools opening on March 8 and non-essential shops open by April 12.

The PM hopes the UK will be completely out of lockdown by July, as long as vaccination progress is successful.

In other news, the COVID-19 vaccines being used in the UK could reduce a person's risk of being admitted to hospital by as much as 94% four weeks after the first dose, new data suggests.

Experts examined coronavirus hospital admissions in Scotland among people who have had their first jab and compared them to those who had not yet received a vaccine.

England's coronavirus vaccine campaign is significantly reducing cases of COVID-19, with a drop of around 70% in infections among healthcare workers who have had a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, British health officials said on Monday.