The Covid-19 case rate in Rutland keeps on falling, with it well-below the levels of before the prison outbreak.

The UK government's Covid-19 tracker recorded 21 cases yesterday, 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 155, down from 160 on Wednesday and 183 on Tuesday.

In the week to last Wednesday, due to the outbreak of cases at HMP Stocken, some 207 cases were recorded.

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

Now, the 7-day rate 130.2 cases, which is below the England average of 137.8, which is also falling rapidly.

In total, Rutland now has 1452 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 increased by 2 to 55, equivalent to about one-in-800 of the county's population.

Meanwhile, in Lincolnshire, South Kesteven yesterday reported no deaths and a declining case rate reducing even further.

The district remains on 244 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 38 to 6595, which amounts to just over one-in-20 of the district's population.

The 38 is higher than recent days but being lower than the sane day last week, it meant the number of cases in the week to today fell from 160 on Wednesday to 155 yesterday.

This compares to 287 last Thursday and 361 the Thursday before, showing how case numbers have more than halved in the past fortnight.

The 7-day rate is now 108.8 cases per 100,000, which is well below the England average of 137.8, which is also declining rapidly.

Overall, the government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 159 new cases in Lincolnshire, 23 in North East Lincolnshire and 13 in North Lincolnshire.

On Thursday, one death was registered in Lincolnshire, one in North East Lincolnshire and -1 in North Lincolnshire. Fluctuations in data are usually due to some deaths in those areas being reallocated to other regions across the UK or a miscount. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

On Thursday, national cases increased by 12,057 to 4,083,242, deaths rose by 454 to 119,387, while COVID first jab numbers hit over 16.4 million.

Nationally, internal plans in Whitehall suggest a rapid reopening of the economy in the weeks after pupils return to classrooms on March 8, according to Sky News.

Government officials have drawn up a timetable to help work out internal plans to roll out the planned mass COVID testing regime.

This suggests a desire to reopen rapidly in the weeks after schools readmit most children next month.

Face-to-face visits in care homes could resume within weeks as England's lockdown is eased, a minister has suggested.

Care minister Helen Whately told Sky News she wants to see a return to more "normal" visits as COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed and suggested residents wouldn't need to have the second dose of their coronavirus vaccine before seeing relatives.

Surge testing is to begin in an area of Leeds as authorities attempt to control the potential spread of the South African COVID-19 variant after more cases were found.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said people living in the LS8 postcode should take a test when offered, whether they are showing symptoms or not.