Rutland has recorded its first death with Coronavirus in three weeks.

The death, recorded on the government's UK Covid-19 tracker now puts the total number of deaths in Rutland at 61- about one for every 700 residents.

This is better than the England average of one for every 500 residents.

The 7-day infection rate for Covid-19 in Rutland has remained stable since the weekend after a slight pick-up following its lowest rate in months.

The county recorded six cases again, the highest for some days, but the number of cases recorded over the past week remains at 16.

Last Wednesday, the county reached a low of 11 cases over a week.

The increase comes amid a backdrop of a massive increase in testing nationally, including of children returning to school.

The county now has a 7-day rate of 40.1 cases per 100,000. This is well below the England average of a 7-day rate of 55.7 cases per 100,000, which has consistently declined.

The six cases recorded on Wednesday now gives Rutland a grand total of 1603 cases- equivalent to one case for every 25 residents since the start of the pandemic.

Meanwhile in Lincolnshire, the 7-day case rate for South Kesteven has perked back up again.

In the week to Wednesday, South Kesteven recorded 122 cases, up from 114 in the week to Tuesday.

This gives a rate of 85.7 cases per 100,000, which is well above the rates for Rutland and England. declined.

Two weeks ago, the district has a 7-day rate of 56.2 based on 80 cases recorded over 7 days.

With 23 cases recorded on Wednesday, South Kesteven now reports 7186 cases in total, about one for every 20 residents.

Again, no deaths were recorded yesterday, with the last being recorded last Wednesday.

The total of 264 is equivalent to one for every 600 residents, which is better than the England average of one for every 500 residents.

Overall, there have been 178 new coronavirus cases and seven COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday — compared to 173 cases and seven deaths last Wednesday.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 106 new cases in Lincolnshire, 46 in North Lincolnshire and 26 in North East Lincolnshire.

On Wednesday, four deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, two 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.

On Wednesday, national cases increased by 5,605 to 4,312,908, while deaths rose by 98 to 126,382.

In national news, the European Commission is to call for tougher controls on COVID vaccine exports after it accused UK-Swedish firm AstraZeneca of failing to honour its contract to supply EU countries.

The proposals, to go before EU leaders on Thursday, stop short of a ban but could enflame tensions with the UK.