Rutland has recorded a further drop in it's 7-day case rate, giving a fall of a third in a week.

It has also exceeded 8 weeks without a single fatality.

Today, England's smallest county recorded 23 positive tests, compared with 22 yesterday, 28 over the weekend, 22 last Tuesday and 23 the Tuesday before.

This gives the district a 7-day infection rate of 237.2 cases per 100,000 compared with 256.9 yesterday, 276.7 on Sunday, 365.6 last Tuesday and 343.3 the Tuesday before. The current rate is also the lowest in over a month.

The county now has recorded 3127 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 has recorded its sixth death with Covid this month.

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 the district 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.

South Kesteven's 7-day infection rate ticked up today but still remains around its lowest since mid-July.

Today, the district recorded 78 positive tests, giving South Kesteven a 7-day case rate of 194.4 cases per 100,000- a reduction of almost than a third since last Tuesday.

The 78 positive tests compare with 79 yesterday and 107 recorded over the weekend, 44 last Tuesday and 57 the Tuesday before.

The current weekly infection rate of 194.8 per 100,000 of population compares with 188.5 yesterday, 199.7 on Sunday, 271.6 last Tuesday and 342.8 the Tuesday before.

With its fluctuations, South Kesteven now has a lower 7-day infection rate than Lincolnshire's 258.2 and lower than England's 255.6, 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 12,637 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 1 million a day or 6.8 million over a week nationally.

Meanwhile, 583 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Greater Lincolnshire today.

Government figures on Tuesday showed 361 new cases in Lincolnshire, 86 in North East Lincolnshire and 136 in North Lincolnshire.

Five further deaths of Greater Lincolnshire residents were confirmed in the government figures, with four in Lincolnshire and one in North East Lincolnshire.

Despite generally decreasing COVID infection rates, several Greater Lincolnshire authorities have climbed the national rankings over the past few days as the Prime Minister confirmed there are no plans to cancel Christmas — yet.

North Lincolnshire currently has the highest infection rate in the region at 332.9 per 100,000 population, down from 364.1, based on yesterday's figures.

However, its place in the national rankings has risen from 146th to 109th, which shows other areas of the country are decreasing faster.

It is followed by the South Holland and North Kesteven district councils areas with infection rates of 329.7 and 315.7 respectively.

The latter authority is the only one to have seen a rise in rates in the days to September 20.

Some areas of Lincolnshire, however, are still falling down the rankings: they are Lincoln (from 115th to 143rd), East Lindsey (from 123rd to 153rd), Boston (from 256th to 276th) and South Kesteven (from 285th to 325th).

In national news, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said overnight that he does not "want or expect" to cancel Christmas this year (again).

He told reporters on a plane heading to New York for a UN Summit: "We certainly don't want or expect to have to do anything like last Christmas… That is very much not the plan".

Last Christmas saw heavy limits put on family gatherings for the festive season, despite previous promises the season of joy would not be hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

A new report from the RMT union has said the number of people wearing masks on public transport and at major railways stations has dropped from 80% to 20%.

Mike Lynch, general secretary said people were ignoring rules even where masks were mandatory.

 "As more people see others failing to comply, the situation will escalate quickly over the autumn," he said.

"With the government already making compulsory mask wearing on transport a contingency if cases escalate in the coming weeks, there is a real danger they won't be able to get the genie back into the bottle."

A government spokesman said people needed to take personal responsibility.

"The guidance is clear that people are expected and recommended to wear a mask when they come into contact with people they don't normally meet in enclosed and crowded spaces," he said.

"It is open to transport operators to decide if they want to implement their own policies, working within their particular environment."

Elsewhere, the Department of Education said just 0.7% of pupils were absent from school with COVID in England last week. The figure is a fall on previous ones.

Meanwhile, University College London (UCL) has warned that around 10,000 people could die of cancer earlier because of increased pressure and a lack of resources in the NHS.

It follows a survey of 2,096 UK adults in May and found three in four wanted blood tests for cancer screening.