March 8, 2021 4.32 pm This story is over 36 months old

Week starts with 122 new COVID cases and two deaths in Greater Lincolnshire

Schools back in business
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

There have been 122 new coronavirus cases and two COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Monday.

The government’s COVID-dashboard on Monday recorded 67 new cases in Lincolnshire, 20 in North East Lincolnshire and 35 in North Lincolnshire.

Two COVID-related deaths were registered, with one in Lincolnshire and one in North East Lincolnshire. These include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

NHS England also reported three new local hospital deaths – two at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and one at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole.

National cases increased by 4,712 to 4,223,232 while deaths rose by 65 to 124,566, record lows since September 2020.

In other news, England’s lockdown easing started on Monday, with children returning to school, care home residents being allowed to hold hands with a visitor, and two people from different households able to meet outdoors.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson earlier in the day said the “largest mass testing programme we have ever seen in this country” was taking place in Englands schools.

Staff and pupils are now recommended to wear masks everywhere in school, including in the classroom.

A graph showing Lincolnshire’s case numbers up to March 8.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a press conference, said it had been an “emotional day for millions of families up and down the country” and that there was an overwhelming “feeling of relief”.

He said a “greater risk” would be keeping children out of school “a day longer”.

He called the latest measures the “crucial first step” on the government’s “cautious, but irreversible roadmap to freedom”.

He noted that more than one third of the entire UK population has now been vaccinated and said that meant they could take the step “with caution”.

People aged 56 to 59 in the East Midlands, including across Greater Lincolnshire, are being invited to book their life-saving coronavirus vaccination this week.

Patients have until Tuesday lunchtime to respond to a survey on United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust’s latest plans – including its COVID-free site in Grantham. However, critics of the plans say questions still remain.

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Monday, March 8

54,504 cases (up 122)

  • 38,392 in Lincolnshire (up 67)
  • 8,225 in North Lincolnshire (up 35)
  • 7,887 in North East Lincolnshire (up 20)

2,110 deaths (up two)

  • 1,553 from Lincolnshire (up one)
  • 300 from North Lincolnshire (no change)
  • 257 from North East Lincolnshire (up one)

of which 1,247 hospital deaths (up three)

  • 777 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up two)
  • 41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
  • 1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
  • 431 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up one)

4,223,232 UK cases, 124,566 deaths