The 7-day infection rate for Covid-19 in Rutland has stabilised after a slight pick-up following its lowest rate in months.

The county recorded three cases yesterday, following on from three cases over the weekend.

This meant the county again recorded 16 cases over the past week, as it did in the week to Sunday, which comes amid a backdrop of a massive increase in testing nationally, including of children returning to school.

This week, as previously reported by Nub News, a rapid testing service has been launched in Rutland.

The latest figures still show the county having a 7-day case rate of 40.1 cases per 100,000- well below the England average of 56.8, which has consistently declined.

The three cases recorded over the weekend now gives Rutland a grand total of 1594 cases- equivalent to one case for every 25 residents.

The total number of deaths in Rutland remained at 60- about one for every 700 residents. This is better than the England average of one for every 500 residents and has remained there for more than 2 weeks.

Meanwhile, in Lincolnshire, the number of Covid-19 cases in South Kesteven every week has increased by around a half in less than a fortnight.

However, no-one has died with Covid in the district in nearly a week.

The latest figures show South Kesteven is bucking the Lincolnshire trend by having a rising 7-day rate, while much of the county continues to enjoy further declines in case numbers.

The district has recorded 121 cases over the past week, giving it a 7-day case rate of 85. This compares with 111 cases in the week to yesterday and 94 in the week to last Monday.

Recently, a low of 80 cases were recorded in the week to Wednesday March 10.

South Kesteven's current case rate of 85 cases per 100,000 compares with the England average of 56.8 cases per 100,000 of population, which has consistently fallen.

Today, South Kesteven recorded 18 cases, giving a grand total of 7143- equivalent to about one case for every 20 residents.

The number of deaths remains at 264, meaning one death for about 700 residents, which is better than the England average of about one death for every 500 residents.

Overall, the fourth week of March has started with 155 coronavirus cases but no deaths, meaning this is the second day after last Friday when no COVID deaths have been recorded in Greater Lincolnshire since October 2020.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard on Monday recorded 98 new cases in Lincolnshire, 37 in North Lincolnshire and 20 in North East Lincolnshire.

No deaths were registered in Lincolnshire or North East Lincolnshire, with -1 in North Lincolnshire. Fluctuations in data are usually due to some deaths in those areas being reallocated to other regions across the UK or a miscount. 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, bringing its total so far to 800 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

On Monday, national cases increased by 5,342 to 4,301,925, while deaths rose by 17 to 126,172, the lowest death tally since last September.

In national news, hearing loss and other auditory problems may be strongly linked to coronavirus, new research suggests.

Scientists estimate 7.6% of people infected with COVID-19 experience hearing loss, while 14.8% suffer tinnitus. They also found the prevalence of vertigo was 7.2%.

Today (Tuesday) marks the one year anniversary of the UK's first coronavirus lockdown announcement. Since then, more than 100,000 people have died and millions have been infected with the virus.