The downward trend in Covid 19 numbers in Rutland continues, reflecting national trends.

England's smallest county also continues to record no fatalities, after last weekend saw its first death since April.

Today, Rutland recorded 17 positive tests compared with 20 yesterday and 16 on Wednesday. It also compares with 7 last Friday and 20 the Friday before.

The 7-day infection has fallen from 270.5 cases per 100,000 yesterday to 258 today. This compares with Sunday's peak of 388.2, 345.6 last Friday and 167.8 the Friday before.

Whilst the Rutland 7-day rate has fluctuated a little, the England average has steadily risen in recent weeks until last Friday's peak of 540, which has since fallen to 351.8 today.

However, there has been a large increase in testing recently, with around a million tests a day and 7 million over a past week, though in recent days it has fallen to 863,000 yesterday and 5.8M over a week.

Rutland has now recorded 2227 cases recorded since the start of the pandemic- about one case for every 18 residents. This compares with the England average of about one-in-12.

The number of deaths is now 66, about one for every 600 residents, which compares with the national average of one-in-500 residents.

Prior to the latest fatality last weekend, 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, the South Kesteven 7-day Covid infection rate has continued its downward trend despite the district recording 55 cases today.

The latest numbers mean the district has seen a drop of around a third in this rate since Friday, similar to the large drop recorded nationally.

Today's 55 positive tests compares with 51 yesterday and 48 on Wednesday. It also compares with 42 last Friday and 109 the Friday before.

The 7-day case rate has dropped from last Friday's peak of 353.9 cases per 100,000 of population to 208.5, though it still remains much higher than for much of the past few months.

Last Thursday, it stood at 353.9 and 201.1 cases per 100,000 the Friday before that.

South Kesteven's 7-day case rate also remains well below the England average of 351.8 cases per 100,000, which also peaked at 540 last Friday and was at 360.4 the Friday before that.

The figures come amid much testing, typically a million people a day and around 7 million a week, though in the past week or so testing has dropped to 863,000 yesterday and 5.8 million over a week.

Overall, there have been 9294 cases in South Kesteven since the start of the pandemic- equivalent to about one for about 16 residents in the district.

South Kesteven hasn't recorded a Covid-19 related death since Wednesday May 5.

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.

The overall total remains at 270, about one for each 600 of the population, compared to the England average of one-in-500.

Overall, there have been 2,592 new cases of coronavirus so far this week in Lincolnshire as concern rises over future travel restrictions.

The government's COVID-19 dashboard on Friday reported 458 new cases in Lincolnshire, 93 in North East Lincolnshire and 75 in North Lincolnshire.

The figure is 2% higher than last Friday's 612 cases – but 18% down on the 3,130 cases by this time last week.

Nationally, cases increased by 29,622 to 5,830,774 while deaths rose by 85 to a total of 129,583.

Across England, the R number has fallen slightly to between 1.1. and 1.4 – last week it was between 1.2 and 1.4.

Meanwhile, data from the Office for National Statistics across the week ending July 24 showed approximately one in 65 people in England were estimated to have had coronavirus.

The government has come under attack from French ministers today after placing the country on an "amber plus" travel list.

UK officials say the move is due to a new Beta variant, with transport secretary Grant Shapps defending the move to Sky News, he called the new variant a "big concern".

It has left France adrift in terms of the UK's quarantine rules with all the surrounding EU countries having self-isolation requirements removed from August 2.

Fully vaccinated visitors from the United States will also be able to arrive without needing to quarantine from that date.

Meanwhile, there have been warnings that Spain could be placed on a new amber watchlist, iNews has reported, while Italy has extended its quarantine list to include Britons – despite the government's move the opposite way.

The next update to the UK's travel restrictions is expected on Wednesday or Thursday next week. The Telegraph has reported that up to 77 countries are being reviewed for the green list.

However, there have been warnings that stricter rules may be brought in for places such as Malta, Madeira and Israel.