There have been 643 new coronavirus cases and 31 COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire so far this week – compared to 1,005 cases and 26 deaths by this time last week.
The government’s COVID-dashboard on Friday recorded 79 new cases in Lincolnshire, 28 in North East Lincolnshire and 23 in North Lincolnshire.
The latest data takes the total number of cases in Greater Lincolnshire to over 54,000.
On Friday, seven deaths were registered in Lincolnshire. These include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England reported six new local hospital deaths – five at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and one at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals Trust. This brings the total of hospital deaths so far this week to 24, a rise from 11 last week.
National cases increased by 5,947 to 4,207,304, while deaths rose by 236 to 124,261.
Nationally, Office for National Statistics data shows that the number of coronavirus infections in the UK continued to fall.
In the seven days up to February 27, around 280,000 people were confirmed positive, a drop of about a third on the most recent date.
The latest R number – the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to – is between 0.7 and 0.9.
From Monday, care home residents will be allowed to have a regular indoor visitor as long as they take a coronavirus lateral flow test before entry and wear personal protective equipment (PPE).
Hugging and kissing their relatives will be forbidden, although hand holding will be permitted.
Elsewhere, meeting up with one other person outdoors – for example sitting together in a park with coffee, drink, or picnic, will also be permitted.
Further relaxation is hoped to happen from March 29, when the rule of six will again be allowed, along with outdoor sports facilities reopening and the stay at home rule ending.
In a press conference on Friday evening health secretary Matt Hancock welcomed the news that a mystery person in the UK infected with the COVID variant of concern first found in Brazil had now been traced.
He said the ‘unbreakable link’ between cases, hospitalisation and deaths was ‘being broken’ due to the vaccine rollout – but added testing still remains ‘critical’.
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Friday, March 5
54,126 cases (up 130)
38,170 in Lincolnshire (up 79)
8,149 in North Lincolnshire (up 23)
7,807 in North East Lincolnshire (up 28)
2,105 deaths (up 7)
1,549 from Lincolnshire (up 7)
300 from North Lincolnshire (no change)
256 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)
of which 1,244 hospital deaths (up six)
772 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up five)
41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
430 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up one)
4,207,304 UK cases, 124,261 deaths
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Exciting news for MyLocal app users and The Lincolnite readers! Our latest update is now available to download from your app store and comes packed with the best local news experience you can enjoy.
Revamped News Feed: Enjoy faster loading times and smoother scrolling that make catching up on local news a breeze.
New Play Video Feed: Dive into a dynamic video feed that brings local stories to life in a whole new way.
Enhanced In-App Browser: Access external links quickly and efficiently, right from the app, without any distractions.
Update your MyLocal app from your app store (version 2.73) now and start enjoying these great new features today!
P.S.: Start your MyLocal membership today to support MyLocal and The Lincolnite deliver you a better local news experience and honest journalism from across Lincolnshire.
P.P.S.: We have some huge things in the pipeline, stay tuned!