Rutland has recorded a major slump in its 7-day infection rate as the county recorded only two cases today.

Once more, there were no deaths.

The two cases gives a grand total of 1679 cases since the start of the pandemic- around one in 25 of Rutland's population.

The district has now recorded 5 cases in the week to today, compared with 8 in the week to yesterday, 11 in the week to last Wednesday and 11 in the week before that.

The 7-day infection rate is 12.5 cases per 100,000, which bar one day three weeks ago is the lowest since last Summer.

This is well below the England average of 21.8, which has has generally trended downwards and has avoided the fluctuations seen in Rutland and Lincolnshire.

The Rutland figure is well down on the peak earlier this year, which reached into the 400s for cases per 100,000 of population.

The number of deaths remains at 62, which amounts to about one fatality in 700 residents, which compares to the England average of one-in-500. The last death was recorded on the last Wednesday of April, the only death with Covid-19 recorded in Rutland during April and so far in May.

Meanwhile, in Lincolnshire, South Kesteven has now gone a month without a Covid-related fatality as the district again records just three more cases today.

The district has recorded three cases each day this week, after recording five over the weekend. Last Wednesday it recorded one and recorded 5 the week before.

Overall, 35 cases have been recorded in the past week, compared with 34 the previous week and 23 the week before that.

This gives South Kesteven a 7-day infection rate of 24.6 cases per 100,000, which is just above the England average of 21.8.

Whilst the figures fluctuate, the latest figures remain among the lowest since last year and around a twentieth of figures earlier in the year when the weekly rate exceeded 400 cases per 100,000.

Overall, South Kesteven has seen 7596 recorded cases since the start of the pandemic- which is about one for every 20 residents.

The number of deaths has remained at 266 for a month. This means that around one-in-600 residents have died within 28 days of a positive test since the pandemic started, which compares with an England average of one-in-500.

Overall, across Greater Lincolnshire, there have been no COVID-related deaths recorded in the last five days, with just 44 new coronavirus cases reported on Wednesday.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 19 cases in both Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire and six in North East Lincolnshire on May 12.

On Wednesday, national cases increased by 2,284 to 4,441,975, while deaths rose by 11 to 127,640.

In national coronavirus news, people aged 38 to 39 will be able to book their COVID-19 vaccines from Thursday, as the Prime Minister announced a public inquiry into the pandemic response and a new commission to honour lost loved ones.

Bookings for vaccinations will open on May 13, and 38 and 39-year-olds can sign up for their appointment on the NHS website.

The World Health Organisation should have declared a global emergency earlier than January 30, 2020 and recommended travel restrictions to prevent the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, a panel has said.

A report issued by an independent panel into the handling of the pandemic has also found the month of February last year was "lost" as countries failed to take strong measures to halt the spread of the virus.

In vaccine news, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has tweeted that 67.8% of adults have had the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 35% have had two doses.

– 67.8% of adults have been vaccinated once for COVID-19– 35% of adults have had two vaccines

— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) May 12, 2021