The 7-day infection rate in Rutland, which has risen lately, may have turned the corner.

England's smallest county recorded just one case today, along with no deaths.

This compares with five cases recorded on Tuesday, two on Monday and six last Wednesday.

The number of cases recorded over a week has increased from a low of 11 last week, to a high of 25 yesterday, and has fallen to 24 today.

This gives Rutland a 7-day case rate of 60.1 cases per 100,000 population, which is just above the England average of 54.9.

The number of deaths today remained at 61, with the county not recording a death since last Wednesday. The total amounts to about one death of every 700 residents.

Meanwhile, in Lincolnshire, the 7-day Covid-19 infection rate in South Kesteven has dipped a little, suggesting it may have peaked.

Official government figures recorded 11 cases in the district today, half of the 22 recorded yesterday and half of the 22 recorded on Monday.

advertisement

This gives a grand total of 7344 since the start of the pandemic- equivalent to one case for almost 20 residents.

South Kesteven has recorded 163 cases in the past week, down from 164 in the week to yesterday. This gives a 7-day case rate of 114.4, which is more than double the England average of 54.9 cases per 100,000.

In recent weeks, the number of weekly cases has risen from a low of 80 a week about three weeks ago. Yesterday's weekly rate was the highest for a month and with the halving of daily totals for two days, the weekly rate may be on its way back down again.

All this comes amid a background of much higher testing, including of children at school. New testing services for people without symptoms, starting next week, may also keep numbers high or even increase them.

South Kesteven's 7-day rate now means about one-in-900 residents will have tested positive with the virus in the past week, compared with about one-in-1800 nationally.

Meanwhile, South Kesteven has gone another day without a death- keeping the total at 265. This amounts to about one-in-500 of the population and is similar to the national average.

Overall, there have been 4,493 coronavirus cases and 100 COVID-related deaths recorded in Greater Lincolnshire in March, down 20% on February's total cases which saw 5,412, and half as many deaths – 100 compared to 208.

On Wednesday, the government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 71 new cases in Lincolnshire, 34 in North Lincolnshire and 24 in North East Lincolnshire.

advertisement

Three deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, three in North Lincolnshire and none in North East Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

NHS England reported no new local hospital deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday for the second day in a row. 76 deaths occurred in hospitals in March, over a third down from 111 in February.

Wednesday has seen national cases increase by 4,052 to 4,345,788, with deaths rising by 43 to 126,713.

In national news, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is safe and 100% effective in children as young as 12, its manufacturers have said.

The two firms have carried out vaccine trials in the US on 12 to 15-year-olds, which they say were successful.

More than 3.7 million people in England and Wales have been told that after today they no longer need to shield from the coronavirus.

From Thursday, the extremely clinically vulnerable, including cancer patients having chemotherapy and stem cell transplant recipients, should follow the same rules as the rest of the population.