Rutland has recorded 20 cases today, further increasing its 7-day case rate.

But once more no deaths were recorded, with the county not experiencing a Covid-related fatality since April.

Today's 20 cases compares with 23 yesterday, 24 on Tuesday and 16 on Monday, putting the county;s 7-day rate at its highest in months,

Last Thursday saw 21 cases and and there were 4 the Thursday before.

After declining last week, the 7-day rate has turned strongly upwards and is now 318.1 cases per 100,000 compared with 290.5 cases per 100,000 yesterday, 248 on Tuesday and 235.4 on Monday.

Last Thursday, it stood at 175.3 and it was 205.4 the Thursday before that.

Whilst the Rutland figure has fluctuated a little to reach 318.1 today, the England average has steadily risen in recent weeks and is much higher at 529.1 cases per 100,000. A week ago it was at 350.3 cases per 100,000.

However, there has been a large increase in testing recently, with more than a million yesterday and 7 million over the past week.

Rutland has now recorded 2109 cases recorded since the start of the pandemic- about one case for every 18 residents. This compares with the England average of about one-in-12.

The number of deaths remains at 65, 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.

In Lincolnshire, South Kesteven recorded 46 cases today, slightly down on yesterday, suggesting the figures may soon start heading back again soon.

Either way, the district has now gone more than 11 weeks without recording a Covid-related fatality.

Today's 46 positive tests add to the 49 recorded yesterday, further increasing the 7-day case rate from 331.4 cases per 100,000 yesterday to 342.6 today, making it the highest in months.

Last Thursday, it stood at 201.5 and 113.7 cases per 100,000 the Thursday before.

Last Thursday, South Kesteven recorded 61 cases and 33 the Thursday before.

Overall, there have been 8937 cases in South Kesteven since the start of the pandemic- equivalent to about one for about 16 residents in the district.

Nationally, 84 deaths were recorded today, but South Kesteven hasn't recorded such a death since 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.

The overall total remains at 270, about one for each 600 of the population, compared to the England average of one-in-500.

Meanwhile, Lincolnshire passed the 50,000 COVID cases mark on Thursday as 306 new cases were confirmed in the county – 576 in the Greater Lincolnshire region overall.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard on Thursday reported 306 new cases in Lincolnshire, 171 in North East Lincolnshire and 99 in North Lincolnshire. The number is 19.2% down on last Thursday's 713 cases.

Nationally, cases increased by 39,906 to 5,602,321, while deaths rose by 84 to 128,980.

Nationally, vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi defended the number of people being pinged by the NHS COVID app.

He said self-isolation was the second most important tool for combatting COVID after vaccines.

He also told MPs that vaccines had stopped 52,600 people being hospitalised in England.

However, he said people should still be cautious due to the daily average number of cases being around 41,000 and 34% of people aged 18-29 nationally had not been vaccinated.

He reassured people that waiting until September before requiring an NHS Covid Pass for access to nightclubs and other crowded venues was the right thing to do to give businesses and young people time to prepare.