Rutland recorded 8 cases of Covid-19 yesterday and one death on Tuesday.

The 7-day case rate dropped from 177.8 cases per 100,000 to 162.8 cases and despite fluctuations, is maintaining a downward trend.

The week to yesterday saw 65 cases recorded in Rutland, compared with 71 yesterday, and the number of cases per week being in the 70s for much of last week, peaking at 80.

This means that fewer than one-in-500 Rutland residents have succumbed to the virus over the past week.

Rutland's seven day rate is well below the England average rate of 281.9 cases 100,000, which is falling relatively rapidly.

The total number of cases has now increased from 1160 on Monday to 1168 yesterday, which is a rate of 2925.3 cases per 100,000, which means about one-in-35 Rutlanders have been recorded at having caught the virus at some stage during the pandemic.

The deaths tally increased one to 43 yesterday after rising by one over the weekend, meaning around one-in-a-thousand Rutlanders will have died with Covid-19 at some stage.

Nearby in Lincolnshire, four deaths with COVID-19 were recorded in South Kesteven yesterday.

Overall, Greater Lincolnshire recorded 218 new coronavirus cases and 13 COVID-related deaths.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 179 new cases in Lincolnshire, 21 in North Lincolnshire and 18 in North East Lincolnshire.

South Kesteven reported 46 cases on Tuesday, putting it on 6112 since the start of the pandemic. This means about one person in 25 in the district have a recorded case since the start of the pandemic.

The district is also experiencing a downward trend with it 376 cases over the past week, giving a rate of 264 cases per 100,000. This is a decrease from 278.7 recorded over the weekend.

The number of deaths in South Kesteven increased by four today to 204. This means about on-in-70,000 of its residents will have died with Covid-19 since the pandemic started.

On Tuesday, 12 deaths were registered in Lincolnshire and one in North Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

National cases increased by 16,840 to 3,852,623 while deaths rose by 1,449 to 108,013.

In national news, people in areas that have been singled out for enhanced testing for the South African variant should further limit the time they spend away from home, a minister has said.

Universities minister Michelle Donelan said those affected should be "thinking twice about their actions".

Delaying the second dose of the Pfizer jab – the current government strategy – may leave some elderly patients at risk of infection by the South African variant, new research suggests.

Lab tests by scientists at Cambridge University showed that one dose of the vaccine may not stimulate the immune system to produce enough antibodies to kill the virus.

A mutation of the Kent COVID variant that has been detected in some samples could help the virus evade the immune system, scientists have found.

The mutation, which has been labelled E484K, has also been found in the South African variant of the coronavirus.