People pile into Lincoln for lockdown shopping frenzy

There were 348 new coronavirus cases and 17 COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday.

The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 277 new cases in Lincolnshire, 40 in North Lincolnshire and 31 in North East Lincolnshire.

On Wednesday, 14 deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, two in North East 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.

NHS England reported eight new local hospital deaths on Wednesday, including six at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and two at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLAG).

On Wednesday, national cases increased by 38,905 to 3,505,754, while deaths rose by 1,820 to 93,290 – the highest number of deaths recorded since the pandemic started.

In local news, six in ten new COVID cases in Lincolnshire were with the new, more infectious variant in the first week of 2021.

The county council’s public health team said that by January 8, 59.2% of tests contained a variant of the virus — up from 36% in the last two weeks of 2020.

Lincolnshire’s frontline police officers are being offered doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that are left over at the end of a day.

Lincolnshire Police’s force control room will be called each day with the offer of spare vaccines that weren’t used throughout the day due to the jab not being able to be stored overnight.

A care home in the Skegness area was found to have inadequate safety procedures and poor use of PPE in a recent Care Quality Commission inspection.

Nationally, the UK will need to look “very carefully” at new data from Israel which suggests protection provided by the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is lower than had been found in trials, the government’s chief scientific adviser told Sky News.

Sir Patrick Vallance said the government would “just need to keep measuring the numbers” as the vaccine is rolled out across the UK.

Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate over the last seven days up to January 20, according to the government dashboard:

Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Jan 13 to Jan 20. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite

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Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday, January 20

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

44,988 cases (up 348)

• 31,269 in Lincolnshire (up 277)
• 6,997 in North Lincolnshire (up 40)
• 6,722 in North East Lincolnshire (up 31)

1,726 deaths (up 17)

• 1,226 from Lincolnshire (up 14)
• 271 from North Lincolnshire (up one)
• 229 from North East Lincolnshire (up two)

of which 1,024 hospital deaths (up eight)

• 623 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up six)
• 30 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
• 1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
• 370 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up two)

3,505,754 UK cases, 93,290 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.

Thirty dogs found with badly matted fur and covered in faeces have shown a positive transformation and are beginning to enjoy life in RSPCA care.

The RSPCA was alerted to the plight of the dogs last week, who were found in a neglected state in kennels outside a property in the Skegness area.

The impoverished owner agreed to sign the pets over into the care of the animal welfare charity, who were taken by rescuers for immediate veterinary attention.

Monty, a cross poodle aged around 7, before and after his makeover. | Photo: RSPCA

Several of them were so badly matted that they had to have their fur shaved off and their breeds were unrecognisable.

Many also had rotten teeth and were struggling to eat food. In total, 80 teeth had to be removed from five dogs and they are now on antibiotics and pain relief.

Say hello to a new-look Sebastian, who is a Daxi-cross aged about 4. | Photo: RSPCA

The RSPCA revealed on Wednesday that the canines are making good progress. They have had their heavy matted fur shaved and are more recognisable as their breeds.

Staff at the RSPCA Radcliffe Animal Centre in Nottingham will continue to work with the dogs until they are ready to be rehomed.

Meet Tink the Terrier cross after her spruce up. | Photo: RSPCA

Ella Carpenter, manager at RSPCA Radcliffe Animal Centre, said: “The matting had caused skin problems for some of the dogs so they have been having regular baths while here and have also enjoyed some more clipping to make them feel more comfortable.

“They have a new lease of life and are now able to move freely without experiencing the pain of those heavy matts, glued together with excrement, pulling and tearing at their skin.”

The Lincolnite asked the RSPCA what action has been or will be taken against the owner and if there would be any further investigation.

The charity said that due to GDPR reasons it was unable to disclose what action has been taken.

Jubilee Park in Woodhall Spa was subject to vandalism when three male youths threw rocks into the swimming pool, causing over £1,000 of damage.

Between 3.40pm and 4.30pm on Saturday, January 9, CCTV caught three male teenagers ride into Jubilee Park on bikes.

They wandered around the park a few times before taking stones from the sensory garden and throwing them into the swimming pool.

Three teens were caught causing damage to Jubilee Park. | Photo: Jubilee Park Woodhall Spa

The pool was frozen over at the time, but due to the stones at sensory garden weighing around 5-7kgs each, damage was caused to the tiles at the bottom.

The damages have been estimated at over £1,000 by Jubilee Park, with a commercial diver needing to assess the pool before it can safely open again.

Police are investigating this incident and are appealing to find the three boys in question.

Police are now appealing to identify the youths. | Photo: Jubilee Park Woodhall Spa

If you recognise any of the suspects in the CCTV pictures, email PCSO Nicola Stuchfield at [email protected].