Rutland has recorded its first Covid-19 related death since early last week.

But with just five cases recorded yesterday, the 7-day case rate is at its lowest since last year.

With 5 cases also recorded on Wednesday, this means 37 cases have been recorded in the week to Thursday.

This gives a 7-day case rate of 92.7 cases per 100,000 of population, just slightly above the 86.4 England average, which is also heading down.

In recent weeks, the county has experienced two spikes caused by outbreaks at HMP Stocken, which were responsible for half or more cases in the county, which for a time last month had among the worst infection rate in England.

Rutland now has 1549 recorded cases, which is about one for each 25-30 of its population.

The number of deaths, now 60, is about one-in-700 of its population.

Meanwhile, in Lincolnshire, South Kesteven continues to record fewer Covid-19 cases, reflecting national trends.

The district today recorded 16 cases yesterday, compared with 12 cases on Wednesday, and 9 cases on both Monday and Tuesday. But with the numbers being well-down on last week, the 7-day rate continues to fall significantly.

The district recorded 125 cases in the week to Thursday, compared with 132 cases in the week to Wednesday, 143 cases in the week to Tuesday and 158 in the week to Monday.

The 7-day case rate for South Kesteven is now 87.8 cases per 100,000, just above the England average of 86.4.

The district's 16 cases gives a grand total of 6859 since the start of the pandemic- about one in 20 of South Kesteven's population.

The number of recorded deaths increased one to 256 since the start of the pandemic- about one-in-600 of South Kesteven's population.

Overall, there have been 114 new coronavirus cases and six COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Thursday.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 81 new cases in Lincolnshire, 16 in North East Lincolnshire and 17 in North Lincolnshire.

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

National cases increased by 6,573 to 4,201,358, while deaths rose by 242 to 124,025.

Nationally, there has been a decline in the number of infections in England. However the World Health Organisation has said it is seeing a "resurgance in central and eastern Europe".

Health minister Lord Bethell said the UK is the country most likely to suffer a new variant of the coronavirus.