Rutland has gone 11 weeks without a Covid-related fatality and today's figures also report a drop in the 7-day infection rate.

Wednesday saw 17 cases recorded in Rutland, which compares with 6 yesterday, 6 last Wednesday and 18 the Wednesday before.

As reported last week, the last recorded such death in England's smallest county was on Wednesday April 28. Before that it was Thursday March 25.

After being stable above the 200 cases per 100,000 for much of last week, the 7-day case rate has fluctuated. It fell to 165.3 cases per 100,000 on Sunday, but bounced back to 182.8 cases per 100,000 on Monday and 190.3 cases per 100,000 yesterday but back down to 182.8 today.

Rutland's current 182.8 cases per 100,000 case rate compares with 200.4 last Wednesday and 107.7 the Wednesday before. This compares with the steadily rising England average which now stands at 341.5 cases per 100,000.

However, there has been a large increase in testing recently, with almost 1 million tests yesterday and more than 7.1 million over the past week.

Rutland has now recorded 1943 cases recorded since the start of the pandemic- about one case for every 22 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.

Meanwhile, in Lincolnshire, South Kesteven has gone ten weeks without a Covid-related death.

The total remains at 270, with the last fatality related to the virus in the district being on Wednesday May 5- a week later than Rutland's last fatality.

The last fatality priority to that was Tuesday March 25, showing South Kesteven has experienced just two deaths with Covid-19 in more than 15 weeks.

However, the 7-day case rate in South Kesteven has continued rising despite a sharp drop in new cases today.

The district recorded 44 people testing positive today compared with 39 yesterday and 78 over over the weekend.

Today's 44 positive tests compares with 45 last Wednesday and 37 the Wednesday before.

Overall, there have been 8398 recorded cases in South Kesteven since the start of the pandemic- equivalent to about one for about 18 residents in the district.

The 7-day rate is now 185.4 cases per 100,000, compared 104.6 last Wednesday and 49.9 the Wednesday before.

However, despite the rate almost doubling over the past week, and almost quadrupling in a fortnight, it remains almost half the England average of 341.5 cases per 100,000.

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 before creeping upwards.

However, despite the South Kesteven figures, there were two COVID deaths in Greater Lincolnshire's figures on Wednesday, including the first in 24 days at North Lincolnshire's hospitals, while 618 cases were confirmed.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard on Wednesday reported 309 new cases in Lincolnshire, 203 in North East Lincolnshire and 106 in North Lincolnshire. The total figure is lower than last Wednesday's 625 cases.

Two further deaths were reported in the government data, with one resident recorded in Lincolnshire and another in North Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals.

Lincolnshire's hospitals trusts have not reported a coronavirus-related death through NHS England data in 40 days.

However, North Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals Trust announced its first patient death after 24 days without.

Nationally, cases increased by 42,302 to 5,233,207 while deaths rose by 49 to 128,530.

In national news today, more than 1,200 scientists have written to the government calling for July 19 to be delayed again.

The article in The Lancet said the decision to unlock the country was "unethical" and pursued an "unscientific policy of herd immunity by mass infection".

They called for millions more people to be double-jabbed before restrictions were lifted.

The government's Health Secretary Sajid Javid later tweeted that two thirds of UK adults had now had two jabs.

According to the latest data, 46,037,090 people have now received the first dose of a vaccine nationally, while 35,155,767 have received a second jab.

"We have beaten our target by almost a week — this is a huge achievement," he said.

"Thank you to everyone who has come forward. The vaccine is our wall of defence against the virus."

Elsewhere, London Mayor Sadiq Khan told passengers on London's transport network they must continue wearing masks, even after restrictions are lifting.

Face coverings will still be mandatory on the Tube and the city's bus and rail network.

The announcement has sparked questions to other mayors around the country, including Greater Manchester's Andy Burnham.

Rail operator LNER will also maintain mandatory mask use.