Rutland's 7-day case rate has ticked up a little today, but it is still almost a third lower than it was last Thursday.

The county has also exceeded 8 weeks without a single fatality.

Today, England's smallest county recorded 13 positive tests compared with 23 yesterday, 22 on Monday, 9 last Wednesday and 23 the Wednesday before.

This gives the district a 7-day infection rate of 247.1 cases per 100,000 of population compared with 237.2 yesterday, 256.9 on Tuesday, 350.8 last Wednesday and 338.5 the Wednesday before. The current rate is also among the lowest in over a month.

The county now has recorded 3140 having tested positive with the virus since the pandemic started- about one-in-13 of its population- better than England's one-in-9 of the population.

Rutland has now exceeded 8 weeks without a Covid-related fatality.

Public Health England figures say the last such death was on the weekend of July 25.

Since the pandemic started, 66 county residents have died within 28 days of testing positive. This is about one for every 600 residents, which compares with the national average of one-in-500 residents.

Prior to the county's latest fatality, the last recorded such death in England's smallest county was on Wednesday April 28. Before that it was Thursday March 25.

Meanwhile, in Lincolnshire, South Kesteven's 7-day infection rate also ticked up today but still remains close to its lowest since mid-July.

Today, the district recorded 71 positive tests, giving South Kesteven a 7-day case rate of 206 cases per 100,000- a reduction of almost a fifth since last Wednesday.

The 71 positive tests compare with 78 yesterday, 79 on Monday, 54 last Wednesday, and 48 the Wednesday before.

The current weekly infection rate of 206 per 100,000 of population compares with 194.8 yesterday, 188.5 on Monday, 243 last Tuesday and 342.8 the Tuesday before.

With its fluctuations, South Kesteven now has a lower 7-day infection rate than Lincolnshire's 264.5 and lower than England's 258, both of which have been far more consistent than the district and are also heading back down.

Overall, since the pandemic started, South Kesteven has recorded 12,708 positive tests - about one case for each 11 residents. Again, this is better than the England average, which is about one case for every 9 people.

The figures come amid much testing, currently running around 900,000 million a day or 6.8 million over a week nationally.

The government's UK Covid-19 tracker also recorded no deaths today.

However, there was one yesterday- the sixth recorded in South Kesteven during September.

The latest death follows one last Wednesday, one last Wednesday, one last Monday, and three others earlier in the month.

The six September fatalities compare with ten in August.

Prior to the August and September deaths, South Kesteven reported such fatalities on May 5 and March 25, making it 16 Covid related deaths in over 5 months.

It means since the pandemic started, official government figures record 286 fatalities in South Kesteven within 28 days of a positive test for Covid-19.

The total amounts to 199.7 deaths per 100,000, which is equivalent to one fatality for just over 500 residents.

The England average is one death for just under 500 residents.

Meanwhile, in related news today, children aged 12-17 are among the highest transmission group for coronavirus and will "inevitably" get it, health bosses said, as 624 cases have been confirmed in Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday.

Government figures on Wednesday showed 402 new cases in Lincolnshire, 62 in North East Lincolnshire and 160 in North Lincolnshire.

Four further deaths of Greater Lincolnshire residents were recorded in the government figures, with three in Lincolnshire and one in North East Lincolnshire.

Nationally cases increased by 34,460 to 7,530,103, while deaths rose by 166 to 135,621.

England's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty has told the government's Education Committee today that there is "substantial transmission" of COVID-19 between the ages of 12-17.

"Virtually any child, unvaccinated, is likely to get an infection at some point between 12 and 15," he said.

"There is definitely substantial transmission happening in this age group. In fact, the age group we're talking about is the one in which the highest rate of transmission is currently occurring, as far as we can tell."

Professor Whitty told the committee that both the risk to children from COVID-19 and from vaccination was "small" but added the benefits of vaccinating them were greater than the potential for harm.

He added that vaccination was "not a silver bullet" but it would "significantly reduce… the amount of disruption" to education.

Also speaking about giving one dose of the Pfizer vaccine to school children, deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said the side effects of that first dose are lower than those from a second dose.

He went on to say it is "extremely inconvenient to be laid low" by COVID-19, albeit for a small number of days.

Mr Whitty said that half of children have already had coronavirus during the pandemic.

"Because the Delta variant is so infectious we're not looking at a theoretical risk of children 12 to 17 becoming infected. I think it is really quite inevitable that they will be so at some point," added Professor Van Tam.