North East Lincolnshire has the 10th highest in UK
South Lincolnshire’s COVID-19 infection rates are still some of the highest in the country and the weekend has also seen spikes across Northern Lincolnshire.
Health bosses are putting the consistently high south Lincolnshire infection rates down to the working age population going out to earn money and working in essential food production factories.
Northern Lincolnshire’s two districts have seen spikes over the weekend, with North East Lincolnshire having the highest in Greater Lincolnshire and ranked 10th nationally. North Lincolnshire is in third place in our region.
South Holland and Boston’s infection rates are going down but still remain high in comparison to the England average of 58.7.
North East Lincolnshire has seen a rise in its infection rate in March, which has been put down to “a regular pattern of outbreaks in factories and within the health and social care sector during this period which has hampered progress,” according to its latest epidemiology report.
Two weeks ago saw two Grimsby seafood factory workers dying after testing positive for coronavirus.
North Lincolnshire has had a steady infection rate over the last week of around 92 per 100,000 people. However, on Monday, it spiked to 112.
Andy Fox, Lincolnshire County Council’s assistant director for public health, said: “Putting food on people’s plates and the food production industry is vital.
“You need people to be out and about doing it, but you’re going to see higher rates of COVID transmission on the population level in those areas because there’s more people out and about.”
He added: “There’s really no way around that until we start vaccinating people in those age groups, and we still see most cases in the younger working age populations in the 20s and 30s.”
Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate up to March 15, which has seen rises in six of the nine districts across the region:
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Mar 8 to Mar 15. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite
Lincolnshire health bosses are waiting to hear from the Cabinet Office with further plans about targeting the high COVID positivity rate in both districts’ workforces.
Mr Fox said: “We are having those discussions about how we can provide additional support to employers and employees in those areas.”
“On the workforce, I think it will make it slightly harder for us to get infections down particularly, but the numbers that we’ve seen are very low compared to where we were a few months ago, so we’re not in a bad place.”
A dramatic video shows a car engulfed in flames in the car park at Lincoln County Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
An on-call crew from Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue attended the scene on Greetwell Road shortly before 5pm on Tuesday, April 13.
The crew used one hose reel to extinguish the fire and fortunately no casualties were reported.
The car is probably a write-off. | Photo: The Lincolnite
Dramatic pictures from the scene show the severe damage that was caused to the front of the car.
Fall in county infections but a Boston spike
There have been 50 new coronavirus cases and three COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Tuesday — compared to 58 cases and no deaths this time last week.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 26 new cases in Lincolnshire, 19 in North Lincolnshire and five in North East Lincolnshire.
On Tuesday, three deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, none in North East Lincolnshire and -1 in North Lincolnshire. Fluctuations in data are usually due to some deaths in those areas being reallocated to other regions across the UK or a miscount. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England has reported two new local hospital deaths at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust hospitals.
On Tuesday, national cases increased by 2,472 to 4,375,814, while deaths rose by 23 to 127,123.
In local news, people aged over 45 can now book their COVID vaccinations on the NHS website after the government reached its target of offering a first dose to the nine most vulnerable groups.
There were recently some technical difficulties for people accessing the NHS website, but vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said the issues have been fixed – book a vaccine online here and find out if you are eligible.
Over the weekend, Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate has fallen, with a spike in Boston only.
Similarly, the England average has also seen a drop in infections, but still remains nearly half Greater Lincolnshire’s rates.
Lincoln has dropped by more than half over the weekend and now has one of the smallest rates in the UK, with just 9.1 per 100,000 of the population infected with COVID-19.
Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s COVID-19 infection rates up to April 12:
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Apr 5 to Apr 12. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite
In national news, Boris Johnson has warned that the reduction in coronavirus infections, hospitalisations and deaths “has not been achieved” by the rollout of COVID vaccines.
The prime minister, speaking the day after the latest easing of lockdown restrictions, instead said it was the national shutdown that had been “overwhelmingly important” in driving down COVID rates.
England is giving out its first doses of the Moderna jab, the third COVID-19 vaccine in the nation’s rollout.
It will be available at 21 sites, included the Madejski Stadium in Reading and the Sheffield Arena.
Along with the Pfizer jab, it offers an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for under-30s, after concerns about a possible link to very rare blood clots.
Greater Lincolnshire includes Lincolnshire and the unitary authorities of North and North East (Northern) Lincolnshire.
58,772 cases (up 50)
2,184 deaths (up three)
of which 1,302 hospital deaths (up two)
4,375,814 UK cases, 127,123 deaths
There will be another Kill The Bill protest in Lincoln next week, rallying against a new government bill that diminishes protesting rights.
Protests have been rife across the country since the government’s proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was first discussed, with scenes turning violent in Bristol.
Over two hundred people peacefully took part in the city’s first march at Speakers’ Corner on April 3, including Extinction Rebellion activists and Socialist and Labour supporters.
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Now, after a post started doing the rounds on social media, another protest has apparently been scheduled for 2pm on Monday, April 17 at the same location on Lincoln High Street, as part of a national day of action.
A poster promoting a second event has been shared across social media platforms.
Protests are lawful once again after the government eased lockdown restrictions on March 29, but organisers are required to submit a risk assessment prior to any event.
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Organisers of the last protest were in close communication with police to make the event safe, and The Lincolnite has asked Lincolnshire Police if they have been made aware of another protest, but are yet to receive a reply.
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