The 7-day case rate for Rutland has increased again, but it remains well below the England average.

8 cases were reported today, giving the county a 7-day case rate of 107.7 cases per 100,000 of population, based on 47 cases over a week.

This compares with 18 cases recorded yesterday, 9 last Thursday and 4 the Wednesday before.

Rutland's 7-day case rate of 117.7 compares with the England average of 160.2.

England's 7-day case rate has crept up in recent weeks, whilst in Rutland it has fluctuated at low levels, at one stage recently amongst the lowest in the country, before increasing strongly in recent weeks.

Rutland has now recorded 1806 cases recorded since the start of the pandemic- about one case for every 25 residents. This compares with the England average of almost one-in-15.

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.

Rutland's last recorded death was on the last Wednesday of April, the only death with Covid-19 recorded in Rutland during April and so far in May and June.

Meanwhile, in Lincolnshire, the 7-day case rate for South Kesteven has increased again, but the district's rate is still well below half the national average.

And it is still more than a month since South Kesteven recorded a single death with Covid-19.

South Kesteven recorded 29 cases today, compared with 27 cases yesterday, 14 on Tuesday, 10 on Monday, and 27 over the weekend.

Last Thursday saw 7 people tested positive, the same as the Thursday before.

Overall, some 74 cases have been recorded over the past week compared to 71 in the week to yesterday, 69 in the week to Tuesday and 55 in the week to Monday.

This gives South Kesteven a 7-day case rate of 52 cases per 100,000, which is less than a third of the England average of 160.2. The England average 7-day rate has steadily risen in recent weeks, while the South Kesteven figure has tended to fluctuate at a much reduced level.

No deaths were recorded and the number since the start of the pandemic remains at 270. The last fatality in the district was over a month ago, with two fatalities in just over two months.

Overall, there were 358 new cases of coronavirus confirmed across Greater Lincolnshire on Thursday as the Prime Minister keeps his hopes high for staying on the latest unlocking schedule.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard on Thursday reported 174 new cases in Lincolnshire, 127 in North East Lincolnshire and 57 in North Lincolnshire. The total is 102% higher than last Thursday, which saw 177 cases confirmed.

Nationally, cases increased by 27,989 to 4,828,463 while deaths rose by 22 to 128,162.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has on Thursday reiterated that he is hoping England will return "back to a world that is as close to the status quo, ante-COVID, as possible".

Speaking during a visit to a new Nissan plant in Sunderland, however, he added: "There may be some things we have to do, extra precautions that we have to take, but I'll be setting them out."

He asked parents to be patient as calls for more information around school bubbles grow, with Public Health England still carrying out investigations into whether isolation could be replaced with daily testing.

"I understand people's frustration when whole classes, whole bubbles, are sent home and people are asked to isolate," he said.

Meanwhile, iNews has been reporting that British teens are using TikTok to share methods of faking positive COVID-19 tests.

The videos show youngsters applying various liquids to the tests.

If pupils test positive entire bubbles can be forced to miss out on school and education leaders have called the practice "massively unhelpful".

"We are sure this involves a very small minority of pupils, and that for the most part the tests are used correctly," Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders said.