April 8, 2020 10.48 am This story is over 47 months old

Hope for COVID-19 slow down as Lincolnshire cases drop

Just two new cases were confirmed in the county

A drop in daily coronavirus cases in Greater Lincolnshire could be the start of a slow down in the virus across the county, say public health bosses.

It comes with a warning though, that complacency could bring on another spike.

Tony McGinty, assistant director of public health at Lincolnshire County Council, said he hoped the figures were the “the beginning of the slowing” of the virus.

It comes as the county saw an increase of just two confirmed cases yesterday (April 7), taking the total up to 277 with 28 deaths.

Mr McGinty said the figures showed signs of promise.

“It’s hopefully the beginning of the slowing down of the virus,” he said.

“It could be the result of the restrictions on our behaviour that we have put on ourselves.”

However, he warned that the county should not get complacent and “take its foot off the pedal” with social distancing.

Figures on the number of new UK coronavirus cases shown at the Downing Street press conference.

Professor Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said yesterday that there were signs that the virus was about to level off.

He added that the UK would need another week to determine the trend of new cases.

“It’s possible that we’re beginning to see the beginning of change in terms of the curve flattening a little bit. We won’t know that for sure for a week or so,” he said.

Mr Vallance added that the aim of the social distancing measures is to keep the number of COVID-19 cases below the capacity of the NHS in order to save lives.

Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary, at the government’s daily coronavirus press conference.

Meanwhile, Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary, said the government was not a the point of reviewing lockdown measures across the country.

Mr Raab, who is deputising for Prime Minister Boris Johnson who is in intensive care with the coronavirus, said a review would be carried out once the data was reliable enough.

The government said previously that the restrictions would be reviewed after Easter.

Yesterday, the number of cases in the UK increased to 55,242, while the number of deaths stands at 6,159.

Follow the latest coronavirus lockdown updates here