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There have been 263 new coronavirus cases in Greater Lincolnshire on Thursday and three COVID-related deaths, compared to 195 cases and two deaths this time last week,

The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 204 new cases in Lincolnshire, 36 in North East Lincolnshire and 23 in North Lincolnshire.

On Thursday, two deaths was registered in Lincolnshire and one in North Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county. North Lincolnshire deaths have now hit 300.

NHS England reported four new local hospital deaths, including two at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and two at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust.

On Thursday, national cases increased by 9,985 to 4,154,562 while deaths rose by 323 to 122,070. Some 18.6 million have had their first jab.

In local news, the latest NHS England figures show that nearly 240,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Lincolnshire so far.

The weekly data released on Thursday shows 237,027 jabs have taken place between December 8 and February 21 — up by 34,228 on the previous week. However, that figure is lower week on week (36,828 last week and 38,365 the week before).

The UK’s COVID-19 alert level has been downgraded as the threat of the NHS being overwhelmed recedes.

The UK’s chief medical officers said the alert level should move from 5 to 4 as the numbers of patients in hospital are “consistently declining and the threat of the NHS and other health services being overwhelmed within 21 days has receded”.

Level 4 means transmission of COVID-19 is now “high or rising exponentially” compared with level 5, the highest level, where there was “a risk of healthcare services being overwhelmed”.

Police have handed out nearly 70,000 fines to people for breaching COVID-19 lockdown rules since they came into force, with more than 6,000 issued in a single week, new data shows.

Figures published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) on Thursday show that a total of 68,952 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) were issued by forces.

More surge testing will be rolled out in Ealing after additional cases of the coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa were detected.

It is an extension of testing which was started in the west London borough earlier this month following the discovery of previous cases.

Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate numbers up to February 25 according to the government dashboard:

Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Feb 17 to Feb 24. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Thursday, February 25

Greater Lincolnshire includes Lincolnshire and the unitary authorities of North and North East (Northern) Lincolnshire.

53,054 cases (up 263)

• 37,468 in Lincolnshire (up 204)
• 7,969 in North Lincolnshire (up 23)
• 7,617 in North East Lincolnshire (up 36)

2,060 deaths (up three)

• 1,513 from Lincolnshire (up two)
• 300 from North Lincolnshire (up one)
• 247 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)

of which 1,213 hospital deaths (up four)

• 752 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up two)
• 41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
• 1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
• 419 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up two)

4,154,562 UK cases, 122,070 deaths

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.

Lincolnshire health bosses said there have been no hospital admissions with flu cases during this season, which can be put down to the national lockdown, social distancing and face coverings being widely worn.

However, this doesn’t mean the virus has completely disappeared, it is just not spreading as fast.

This comes as Public Health England has not recorded a single case of flu so far this year through routine surveillance tests, despite it being the height of the usual flu season.

Andy Fox, Assistant Director of Public Health at Lincolnshire County Council said: “We’ve seen no hospital admissions due to a confirmed case of influenza and a very low rate of GP consultations, close to zero, for influenza.

“This is good news and demonstrates how effective lockdown measures, as well as social distancing and wearing of face coverings, can be in preventing transmission of respiratory viruses.”

He added: “It’s a reminder that, although influenza is expected to be circulating, the hands, face, space guidance can prevent outbreaks and infections – whether it’s COVID-19 or other viruses, such as influenza.”

Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue is now recruiting more on-call firefighters.

It has used a video as part of national on-call firefighter awareness week of current staff talking about their jobs to try and encourage more people to take up the role. The awareness week runs between March 1 to 7.

To be an on-call firefighter you need to be over 18 and live or work within five minutes of a fire station.

Employees get paid for the role as well as being able to help the local community – see more information here, email [email protected] or call the recruitment team on 0800 3580 204.

John Ashby is an on-call firefighter for Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue at Corby Glen. | Photo: LCC

Sean Band, Watch Manager for Recruitment at Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, said: “On-call firefighters carry pagers. When the pager sounds, they need to get to the fire station within 5 minutes of being alerted, from their home or place of work.

“Shifts can be flexible and work around other commitments, so many of our crew members have other jobs or responsibilities.

“We’re always happy to talk through what it involves, including pay, training and the recruitment process, with anyone who wants to find out more, and we have vacancies on training courses throughout the year.”

Councillor Nick Worth, executive councillor for emergency services at the county council, added: “We’re really proud of our on call firefighters in Lincolnshire who show great commitment and dedication.

“We’re also incredibly thankful to those county employers who offer their staff the opportunity to work on-call when needed, and who then benefit from having a fully trained firefighter in their organisation.”