December 23, 2020 5.20 pm This story is over 39 months old

Record daily deaths but still tier 3 for Greater Lincolnshire

Also national daily case record and another COVID mutation
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

There have been 437 new coronavirus cases and a record daily number of 37 COVID-related deaths on Wednesday.

The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 355 new cases in Lincolnshire, 50 in North Lincolnshire and 32 in North East Lincolnshire.

Some 28 deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, five in North East Lincolnshire and four 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 11 new local hospital deaths on Wednesday, including nine at United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust and two at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust.

On Wednesday, national cases increased by 39,237 to 2,149,551, while deaths rose by 744 to 69,051. This is the highest case number since Tuesday.

Greater Lincolnshire has escaped being put into a tier 4 lockdown from Boxing Day, but millions in other areas of the UK have been escalated a tier.

At least two samples of a new variant of coronavirus have been taken in Lincolnshire, according to a new study.

This comes as currently there are 367 patients with coronavirus being treated at hospitals across Greater Lincolnshire.

In response, Lincoln and Boston are among 17 new areas to offer COVID-19 community testing – here’s what we know so far.

Lincolnshire Police have said they will tackle only “extreme breaches” of COVID-19 restrictions amid the tier 4 threat and coronavirus mutation.

Nationally, the R (rate of infection) number in the UK is estimated to have gone up to between 1.1 and 1.3, according to SAGE. This means for every 10 people with COVID-19, they are likely to infect between 11 and 13 others.

Two cases of a new, “more transmissible” COVID-19 variant linked to South Africa have been identified in the UK, the health secretary said.

This comes as more areas in the East, South East and South West of England will be put into tier 4 to combat the growing number of coronavirus cases.

The first trucks have started leaving a temporary lorry park in Kent after France reopened its border with the UK.

Greater Lincolnshire has seen a steady decease this week in its infection rate – remaining below the national average with only Boston and Lincoln above it.

Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate up to December 23 according to the government dashboard:

Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate from Dec 16 to Dec 23. | Data: GOV UK / Table: The Lincolnite

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire for Wednesday, December 23

34,415 cases (up 437)

  • 22,826 in Lincolnshire (up 355)
  • 5,750 in North Lincolnshire (up 50)
  • 5,839 in North East Lincolnshire (up 32)

1,336 deaths (up 37)

  • 931 from Lincolnshire (up 28)
  • 208 from North Lincolnshire (up four)
  • 197 from North East Lincolnshire (up five)

of which 795 hospital deaths (up 11)

  • 466 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up nine)
  • 19 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
  • 1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
  • 309 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up two)

2,149,551 UK cases, 69,051 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.