The 7-day infection rate in Rutland has started rising again, reversing yesterday's fall.

England's smallest county recorded five cases today, along with no deaths.

This compares with one yesterday, five cases on Tuesday, two on Monday and four last Thursday.

The number of cases recorded over a week has increased from a low of 11 last week, to a high of 25 on Tuesday and 26 today.

This gives Rutland a 7-day case rate of 65.1 cases per 100,000 population, which is just above the England average of 54.2.

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 shot back up again.

Official government figures recorded 18 cases today, compared with 11 yesterday and 22 each on Monday and Tuesday.

This gives a grand total of 7362 since the start of the pandemic- equivalent to one case for almost 20 residents.

South Kesteven has recorded 172 cases in the past week, compared with 163 cases in the week to yesterday and 164 in the week to Tuesday.

This gives a 7-day case rate of 120.8, which is more than double the England average of 54.2 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. Today's weekly rate was the highest for a month.

All this comes amid a background of much higher testing, including of children at school.

South Kesteven's 7-day rate now means about one-in-800 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 121 new coronavirus cases and one COVID-related death in Greater Lincolnshire on April Fool's Day, compared to the same number of cases on March 1 but six deaths.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 85 new cases in Lincolnshire, 19 in North East Lincolnshire and 17 in North Lincolnshire on the first day of April.

On Thursday, one death was 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 4,479 to 4,350,266, while deaths rose by 51 to 126,764.

In national news, a total of 1.1 million people in the UK have reported having long COVID, latest estimates show.

The data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) defined the condition as symptoms that lasted more than four weeks and are self-reported, rather than clinically diagnosed.

Nearly a third of people who have been in hospital suffering from COVID-19 are readmitted for further treatment within four months of being discharged, and one in eight of patients dies in the same period, doctors have found.

Fewer than one in five people request a COVID-19 test if they have symptoms, while the number who follow full self-isolation rules is low, a large study of the test-and-trace system has found.

The report, published in the British Medical Journal, also found only half of people knew the main COVID symptoms.