Rutland reported seven cases of Covid-19 yesterday (Wed), giving the county a total of 818 cases since the start of the pandemic.

A rising rate in the number of cases came as MPs yesterday, including Rutland MP Alicia Kearns, voted in Parliament yesterday to impose a third national lockdown on England.

Rutland's case total amounts to a rate of 2048.7 per 100,000 of population, meaning around one-on-50 of the population have been infected with the virus at some stage, according to official government figures.

The 7-day infection rate rose slightly from 227.9 cases per 100,000 to 242.9 cases per 100,000, as the number of cases recorded over a week increased from 91 in the week to Tuesday to 97 in the week to Wednesday.

This is equivalent to around one-in-400 of county residents.

The Government's Covid-19 tracker also reported number of deaths recorded for Rutland remained at 26.

Nearby South Kesteven, which includes Stamford, also suffered a further sharp rise in cases, strengthening its lead as Lincolnshire's Covid-19 hotspot.

The district recorded 102 cases yesterday, giving it a grand total of 4492 cases since the start of the pandemic.

This amounts to almost one in 30 of its residents have been recorded as having suffered with the virus.

Today's number of cases gives South Kesteven a 7-day rate of 413.6 cases per 100,000, based on the 589 cases recorded in the district over the past week.

It means around one-in-200 of the county's population have reportedly picked up the virus in the past week.

The number of deaths remained at 135, about one in a thousand of the district's population.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard recorded 426 new cases in Lincolnshire, 69 in North Lincolnshire and 51 in North East Lincolnshire. Greater Lincolnshire cases have hit 40,000 mark since the pandemic started.

On Wednesday, 13 deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, six in North Lincolnshire and one in North East Lincolnshire.

On Wednesday, national cases increased by a record 62,322 to 2,836,801, while deaths rose by 1,041 to 77,346 – the highest number of daily COVID deaths since April 21, 2020.

In yesterday's Parliamentary debate concerning the third lockdown, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons that the end of England's lockdown will not happen with a "big bang" but will instead be a "gradual unwrapping".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was "absolutely right" that people be encouraged to get tested and pointed to initiatives which encouraged community testing.

"I totally support that, but I also think that the British public and this house overwhelmingly supports measures to protect the NHS and save lives.

Mr Johnson said doctor surgeries would "clearly play a crucial part" in the vaccination programme.

Earlier, in a speech to the House prior to a full debate on the latest lockdown, Mr Johnson told members of parliament that the new variant of COVID-19 was spreading "with frightening ease and speed".

Lockdown legislation will go on until March 31, but not "be cause we expect to the full national national lockdown to continue until then, but to allow a steady controlled and evidence-led move down through the tiers on a regional basis carefully, a brick by brick," he said.

The UK officially went into full lockdown on Wednesday morning, but the MPs debated and voted on the new rules retrospectively yesterday evening.

Just 12 Conservative MPs voted against the government yesterday, compared with 53 who voted against the Tier plans on December 2.