May 17, 2021 10.24 am This story is over 49 months old

No COVID deaths last week as cases drop in Lincolnshire

Only a slight drop in cases
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

There were no COVID-related deaths recorded last week in Greater Lincolnshire, with 307 cases – a slight drop on the previous week.

The government’s COVID-19 dashboard over the weekend recorded 50 new cases in Lincolnshire, 11 in North Lincolnshire and eight in North East Lincolnshire.

However, the numbers mean there has only been a 0.9% drop in cases week-on-week.

No deaths were registered at the weekend, leaving the weekly total at zero. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

NHS England have stopped reporting hospital deaths at weekends, meaning the latest figures from May 14, show 1,305 deaths have been recorded since the start of the pandemic – the seventh day without a hospital death in a Greater Lincolnshire hospital.

Over the weekend, national cases increased to 4,450,777, while deaths rose to 127,679.

Since last Wednesday, Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates have risen slightly but remain stable at around the 30 per 100,000 of the population.

England has seen an infection rate increase due to large outbreaks of the Indian coronavirus variant, which has also been found in a handful of cases in Lincolnshire.

North Lincolnshire, South Holland, Boston and Lincoln have all seen increases in their rates since Wednesday, North East Lincolnshire has remained at the same level and the other districts have seen decreases.

North Kesteven now has the lowest infection rate in our region, with North Lincolnshire having the highest.

Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates up to May 16, according to the government’s dashboard:

Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from May 5 to May 16. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite

In national news, pubs, bars, restaurants, and other hospitality venues are able to reopen indoors as the easing of the coronavirus lockdown continues from Monday, May 17.

This is part of the government’s roadmap, which is moving onto step three of four, ahead of all restrictions being lifted on June 21.

However, there are fears that the easing of restrictions will lead to an increase in the more transmissible Indian variant of coronavirus, which has lead to an increase in hospitalisations in areas in the country such a Bolton, where mass vaccination and surge testing is ongoing.

The UK has “increasing confidence” that COVID-19 vaccines work against the Indian variant of the virus, the health secretary has said.

Scientists believe that the variant is more transmissible and cases of it nearly tripled to 1,313 in the past week in England.

In Friday’s Downing Street Press Conference, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I have to level with you that this new variant could pose a serious disruption to our progress, and could make it more difficult to move to step four in June, and I must stress that we will do whatever it takes to keep the public safe.”

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Sunday, May 16

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

60,306 cases (up 69)

  • 41,864 in Lincolnshire (up 50)
  • 9,706 in North Lincolnshire (up 11)
  • 8,736 in North East Lincolnshire (up eight)

2,192 deaths (no change)

  • 1,617 from Lincolnshire (no change)
  • 307 from North Lincolnshire (no change)
  • 268 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)

of which 1,305 hospital deaths (as of May 14 – no change)

  • 812 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (no change)
  • 41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
  • 1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
  • 451 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)

4,450,777 UK cases, 127,679 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.