The Covid-19 case rate in Rutland has maintained its recent sharp falls, following a spike caused by an outbreak at HMP Stocken.

The UK government's Covid-19 tracker recorded 24 cases yesterday, compared with 21 cases on Thursday, down from the 27 recorded on Wednesday, but higher than the single-digit numbers earlier in the week.

However, based on weekly figures, the number of cases in the week to yesterday was 52, the same as Thursday, and down from the 54 on Wednesday and 73 on Tuesday.

In the week to last Friday, due to the outbreak of cases at HMP Stocken, some 186 cases were recorded.

This is reflected in the 7 day rate, which last Wednesday topped 500 cases per 100,000, making Rutland among the worse infected in the country.

Now, the 7-day rate of 130.2 cases is below the England average of 133.4, which is also falling rapidly.

In total, Rutland now has 1476 recorded cases, meaning about one-in-30 of its residents will have succumbed to the virus at some stage during the pandemic.

The number of deaths yesterday remained at 55, equivalent to about one-in-800 of the county's population.

In nearby Greater Lincolnshire, 867 new coronavirus cases in Greater Lincolnshire and 40 COVID-related deaths have been recorded so far this week – compared to 910 cases and 45 deaths this time last week.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard on Friday recorded 119 new cases in Lincolnshire, 32 in North East Lincolnshire and 12 in North Lincolnshire.

Among the districts, South Kesteven today reported one death and the declining case rate stabilising with a minor increase yesterday.

The district now reports 245 fatalities of people dying after being tested positive with the virus, which amounts to about one-in-600 of its population since the start of the pandemic.

The number of cases rose by 34 cases (down from 38 yesterday) to 6629, which amounts to just over one-in-20 of the district's population.

The 34 is less than Thursday, but after a sharp decline in case numbers, means South Kesteven has recorded 157 cases in the past week.

This compares to 260 last Friday and 365 the Friday before, showing how case numbers have more than halved in the past fortnight.

The 7-day rate is now 110.2 cases per 100,000, which is well below the England average of 133.4, which is also declining rapidly.

Overall, on Friday, seven deaths were registered in Lincolnshire and none in Northern Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

National cases increased by 12,027 to 4,095,269, deaths rose by 533 to 119,920 while COVID first jab numbers hit over 16.8 million.

In national news, the UK's coronavirus reproduction number – or R number – now stands at between 0.6 and 0.9, meaning for every 10 people infected, they will pass COVID on to between six and nine others.

This represents a slight fall from last week's estimate of between 0.7 and 0.9, when it dropped below one for the first time since July.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to spend the weekend finalising his "roadmap" for easing COVID restrictions in England and opening up the economy.

The government is "crunching the numbers" ahead of Monday's announcement, Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said.

Coronavirus vaccine passports are "feasible" but not until we know more about how long immunity lasts, experts have said.

They have the potential to discriminate against the young, pregnant or those who can't have the jab for medical reasons – this must be factored into any such scheme before launching, according to a Royal Society report.