Freedom Day saw 16 cases recorded in Rutland, further fuelling a rise in the county's 7-day case rate.

The 16 cases compares with 44 over the weekend and 6 on each of the previous two Mondays.

Once again, no deaths were recorded.

The 7-day rate had been declining recently, and on Friday stood at 167.8 cases per 100,000, compared with 182.8 on Wednesday and 190.3 on Tuesday.

After increasing to 202.9 yesterday, similar to levels the week before last, based on a recorded 81 cases in the week to yesterday, it now stands at 235.4 cases per 100,000 population.

Last Monday, the county's 7-day rate was at 182.8 cases per 100,000, and it was at 162.8 cases per 100,000 of population on the Monday before that.

Whilst the Rutland figure has fluctuated a little, the England average has steadily risen in recent weeks and stands much higher at 426.1 cases per 100,000. A week ago it was at 318.8 cases per 100,000.

However, there has been a large increase in testing recently, with 1 million tests on Sunday and 7.2 million over the past week.

Rutland has now recorded 2042 cases recorded since the start of the pandemic- about one case for every 20 residents. This compares with the England average of about one-in-12.

The number of deaths remains at 65, the same as yesterday- about one for every 600 residents, which compares with the national average of one-in-500 residents.

The last recorded such death in England's smallest county was on Wednesday April 28. Before that it was Thursday March 25.

Meanwhile, in Lincolnshire, 76 cases of Covid-19 were recorded in South Kesteven- further fuelling the district's 7-day case rate.

However, no deaths were again recorded, making it almost 11 weeks without a death with Covid-19 in South Kesteven.

The total remains at 270, with the last fatality related to the virus in the district being on Wednesday May 5.

The last fatality priority to that was Tuesday March 25, showing South Kesteven has experienced just two deaths with Covid-19 in more than 15 weeks.

However, the 7-day case rate in South Kesteven has continued rising, with it increasing by half over the past week.

The 76 positive tests today compares with 134 positive tests recorded over the weekend, 109 on Friday and 61 people testing positive on Thursday.

Today's 76 positive tests also compares with 39 last Monday and 31 the previous Monday.

Overall, there have been 8778 recorded cases in South Kesteven since the start of the pandemic- equivalent to about one for about 16 residents in the district.

The 7-day rate is now 259.8 cases per 100,000- meaning one-in-400 will have tested positive with the virus over the past week- compared 167.1 in the week to last Monday and 93.4 the Sunday before.

Overall, across Greater Lincolnshire there have been 652 cases of coronavirus confirmed today as the country marks the lifting of the majority of coronavirus restrictions.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard on Monday reported 363 new cases in Lincolnshire, 201 in North East Lincolnshire and 88 in North Lincolnshire.

The number is 35% higher than last Monday's 482 cases.

Nationally, cases increased by 39,950 to 5,473,477 while deaths rose by 19 to 128,727.

The rules being relaxed today include:

• The end of one metre-plus social distancing
• No need to to wear masks indoors, in shops and on public transport
• The limits on visitors to care homes will be lifted
• The legal limits on people meeting indoors and outdoors will be removed
• All businesses will be allowed to reopen, including night clubs
• The request to work from home where possible will also be scrapped
• No COVID certificate will be required to enter any venue or event – though businesses may choose to require some way to show COVID status

Government bosses have agreed to open up coronavirus vaccinations to 12-15-year-olds with severe health conditions.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid on Monday said he had listened to advice from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), but stopped short of allowing all under-18s to receive a vaccine.

The decision instead includes those with severe neuro-disabilities, Down's Syndrome, immunosuppression and multiple or severe learning disabilities.