Lincoln residents asked for views on council tax support changes

People in Lincolnshire returned to queueing at petrol stations on Saturday morning after some motorists are panic buying fuel due to fears of shortages.

Fuel stations in Lincoln, Grantham and across the county are experiencing gridlock queues, prompting Lincolnshire Police to appeal to motorists to stop panic buying, as there is no fuel shortage overall — though some local garages are experiencing low supplies.

“If you impede emergency services and cause unnecessary delays, you are putting lives at risk,” was the message from Lincolnshire Police.

The force said in a statement on Saturday morning: “This is a potential hazard for vehicles making other journeys, and may cause difficulties for emergency services trying to reach people in need.

“While we appreciate that some people may be particularly keen to fill up their vehicles this weekend, we would respectfully ask motorists to be sensible when making judgements about joining a queue at a petrol station.

“If it is too long, consider returning at a different time.”

Emergency service workers are struggling to get fuel

One Lincolnshire emergency worker wrote to The Lincolnite to tell their experience after a hard day’s work, trying to refuel:

“I am currently on fumes and was unable to refuel [Friday], mainly because after a 13/14 hour shifts often with no break (due to NHS pressures from people abusing the system), working on the ambulances, I barely have the energy to drive home never mind sit in a queue for 30 mins plus for people to refuel unnecessarily (AND THIS INCLUDES WITNESSING PEOPLE FILL UP FUEL CANS – one person filling up their car AND THREE fuel cans).

“My days off are precious to me currently, like a lot of us, so I am going to have to risk getting fuel in the morning of my next shift, when no doubt there will be none available. It’s not just me who’s suffering, what’s next, staff being unable to get to work due to this? People not getting the medical help they need in time? Hospital staff not able to get to work? Police and fire unable to respond to emergencies?

“Come on guys sort yourselves out and just think about people other than yourself, you should be ashamed”

“This is the first lock down all over again where essential workers, emergency service, hospital and care home staff are struggling to get BASIC essentials. Why do we bother risking our health and lives for others (we are still in a pandemic) when people cannot even behave normally and not act selfishly — if people bought items as normal there would be no ‘crisis’ as it’s being incorrectly worded, there is enough stock out there on the shelves and in the pumps if people behaved.”

Lincoln City have signed Scottish under-21 goalkeeper Archie Mair on loan from Premier League side Norwich City.

The 20-year-old keeper had agreed a deal to come to the Imps before the summer transfer deadline, but an announcement was delayed due to an injury he picked up beforehand.

He is now recovering from that injury and will join up with his new teammates, with a view to Archie being available for games as of October 9, when Lincoln face Wigan Athletic in League One.

Mair is very highly rated at Norwich City, having signed a new long-term contract with the Canaries in the summer and spending last season out on loan with King’s Lynn Town in the National League.

The move also paves the way for Imps youngster Sam Long to be sent out on loan and gain some valuable first team experience, though his destination is as yet unknown.

Lincoln City Director of Football Jez George said: “This is a move which suits all parties as, following his loan in the National League, Archie has the opportunity to experience a first team environment in League One, he provides
us with cover for Josh Griffiths and allows Sam Long to go out and play games on loan.

“We were discussing a loan for Archie with Norwich prior to his injury so we are pleased that we have managed to still find a way to have made it happen.

“We held off on announcing this deal because we wanted to be fair to Archie and with our injury list, signing a player with an injury may have looked like we had taken leave of our senses!

“However, there is good logic to the arrangement and Archie is an excellent solution to what we need in supporting Josh Griffiths and Sam Long.

“We are very grateful to Norwich for their help throughout the process and for them facilitating the loan.”

There have been 3,250 cases of coronavirus confirmed so far this week in Greater Lincolnshire, as booster jabs expand across the county.

Government figures on Friday showed 415 new cases in Lincolnshire, 106 in North East Lincolnshire and 176 in North Lincolnshire. The total weekly figure so far is 3.5% higher than last week’s 3,141.

One further death of a Greater Lincolnshire residents was confirmed in the government figures, leaving the weekly total at 16, three fewer than the 19 for last week.

NHS data, meanwhile, confirmed four further deaths across both Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire hospitals. The weekly total of 14 is two more than last week’s 12.

Nationally, the rolling cases total increased by 35,623 to 7,601,487, while deaths rose by 180 to 135,983.

Lincolnshire’s health bosses have said they are encouraged that people continue to come forward for vaccinations, despite a slowing in numbers.

Between September 2 and September 23, the proportion of people double-jabbed in Lincolnshire has only increased by 2% according to the latest data – from 82% to 84%.

The government’s COVID-19 dashboard shows the national average is 82%. The ideal figure would be somewhere between 90-95%.

Rebecca Neno, Director of COVID and Influenza Vaccination Programmes at NHS Lincolnshire CCG, said: “We’re pleased with the response from the Lincolnshire public to the COVID vaccination programme to-date

“Of course we would like everyone to get vaccinated and we continue to offer the vaccination via our sites across the country, walk-ins, and pop-up events, to make it as easy as possible for people to get vaccinated.

“There has been a slowdown in take-up generally as we moved down through the cohorts/ages, but we are encouraged that people of all ages continue to come forward.”

She said initial targets had been achieved, but that it was important that people return for their second jab.

It comes as booster jabs for the most vulnerable are launched across Lincolnshire, launching first in Grantham on Wednesday and then in Boston and Lincoln on Friday.

“This really is another major milestone for us in Lincolnshire, and something we have been working extremely hard to prepare for in recent weeks and months.

“It is great to know we’re in a position to move forward at pace and administer booster vaccinations to everyone who’s eligible,” said Rebecca.

Meanwhile, health bosses are preparing to begin vaccinating healthy 12-15-year-olds from next week, with the hope to complete it by October half-term.

Government health experts earlier this week said children aged 12-17 were among the highest transmission group for coronavirus and will “inevitably” get it.

Andy Fox, assistant director of public health at Lincolnshire County Council, explained: “Like the rest of the country, we have seen a rise in cases among school-aged children, but this was expected with the return of schools.

“On a more positive note, case numbers remain much lower among older age groups. I’d like to reassure parents that the risk to children’s health from COVID is low.

“However, families should be vigilant and not send their child to school if they have symptoms, but should instead get them to self-isolate and arrange a PCR test.”

Nationally, England’s R Number has fallen to between 0.8 and 1.0, compared to between 0.9 and 1.1 last week.

The R number indicates the average number of people each COVID-positive person goes on to infect.

The latest ONS data has estimated that around one in 90 people in private households in England had COVID in the week ending 18 September, down from one in 80 the previous week.

It’s estimated that just over 820,000 people in the UK would have tested positive for coronavirus in that week.

According to the ONS data, school-age children saw the highest rates, the most being those of secondary school-age (years 7 to 11) – 2.8% of people in this group were estimated to test positive.

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Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Friday, September 24

111,069 cases (up 697)

• 72,821 in Lincolnshire (up 415)
• 17,727 in North Lincolnshire (up 176)
• 20,521 in North East Lincolnshire (up 106)

2,332 deaths (up one)

• 1,708 from Lincolnshire (up one)
• 316 from North Lincolnshire (no change)
• 308 from North East Lincolnshire (up one)

of which 1,404 hospital deaths (up four)

• 861 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up four)
• 44 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
• 1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
• 498 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)

DATA SOURCE — FIGURES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF THE LATEST UPDATE. POSTCODE DATA INCLUDES DEATHS NOT IN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES OR IN HOSPITALS OUTSIDE AUTHORITY BOUNDARIES.