Rutland has recorded a drop in its 7-day case rate as the district continues to see fluctuations in case numbers at relatively high levels.

Some 13 positive tests were recorded today, but the county has also exceeded seven weeks without a Covid-related fatality.

This follows 30 positive tests being recorded over the weekend, compared with 26 on both Friday and Thursday, 15 last Monday and 19 the Monday before.

This gives the district a 7-day infection rate of 363.2 cases per 100,000 of population, compared with 392.8 cases yesterday- the highest since late July. On Friday, it was 343.3 cases per 100,000 of population, down on Thursday's 353.3. Last Monday it was a 333.5 and 318.7 the Monday before.

The county now has recorded 2995 having tested positive with the virus since the pandemic started- about one-in-14 of its population- better than England's one-in-9 of the population.

As earlier mentioned, Rutland has now gone seven 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 fourth death with covid since the start of the month.

The death today follows one last weekend, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday.

The four September fatalities compare with ten in August.

Today, South Kesteven recorded 38 positive tests compared with 55 over the weekend, 80 on Friday, 68 last Monday and 68 the Monday before.

The current weekly rate of 295.3 cases per 100,000 of population is the lowest in about a month. It compares with 311.4 yesterday, 328.2 on Friday, 332.8 on Thursday, 326.1 last Monday and 351.9 last Monday.

With its fluctuations, South Kesteven now has a lower 7-day infection rate than Lincolnshire's 321.8 and lower than England's 332.4, both of which have been far more consistent than the district ands are also heading back down.

Overall, since the pandemic started, South Kesteven has recorded 12,196 positive tests - about one case for each 12 residents. Again, this is better than the England average, which is about one case for every 9 people.

The figures come amid much testing, almost a third up on the previous week, currently running around 1.1 million a day or 7.9 million over a week nationally, which is almost a third up on the previous week.

Prior to the August and September deaths, South Kesteven reported such fatalities on May 5 and March 25, making it 15 Covid related deaths in over 5 months.

It means since the pandemic started, official government figures record 283 fatalities in South Kesteven within 28 days of a positive test for Covid-19.

The total amounts to 198.3 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 other news, UK health chiefs have recommended all children aged 12-15 should be offered one dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine.

The Chief Medical Officers for each of the four nations said the virus was going to keep spreading over winter and that it would help reduce disruption to education.

The latest news comes as there were 408 cases of coronavirus confirmed in Greater Lincolnshire on Monday.

The government's vaccine committee previously said there wasn't enough benefit to go ahead on health grounds along but that other factors could be taken into consideration.

MPs will now be asked to vote on whether to take the the recommendations.

During a briefing today, the CMO for England, Professor Chris Whitty said: "The first principle of medicine is always about balancing risk and benefits and if by doing something, the benefits exceed the risks then it is a sensible thing to do."

He later said: "The disruption in education that has happened over the last period since March, 2020, has been extraordinarily difficult for children, and had a big impact on health, mental health and long-term public health – this is most apparent in areas of deprivation."

However, he added: "We do not think that this is a panacea, there's no silver bullet. It's not a single thing that on its own will do so, but we think it is, it is an important and potentially useful additional tool to help reduce the public health impacts that come through educational disruption."

He emphasised that children, young people and their parents should be supported in the decisions they make and be given sufficient information to make the choice whether to take the vaccine or not.

Government figures on Monday showed 254 new cases in Lincolnshire, 72 in North East Lincolnshire and 82 in North Lincolnshire.

Two further deaths of Greater Lincolnshire residents were confirmed in the government figures, with both taking place in Lincolnshire.

Nationally, cases increased by 30,825 to 7,256,559 while deaths rose by 61 to 134,261.