August 30, 2021 4.51 pm This story is over 31 months old

Mobile testing to tackle Lincolnshire coast COVID cases, but numbers down week-on-week

Cases down 5%, deaths up 33%

There were 421 cases of coronavirus confirmed on August bank holiday, as new infections slowed down over the weekend.

Government figures on Monday afternoon confirmed 281 cases in Lincolnshire, 61 in North East Lincolnshire and 79 in North Lincolnshire. They also showed one further death of a Lincolnshire resident.

Over the weekend, 893 cases and five deaths were confirmed. It meant there were 3,673 cases of Coronavirus in Greater Lincolnshire last week, a drop of 5% from the previous week’s 3,854.

Government figures published over the weekend showed four new deaths of Lincolnshire residents, bringing the weekly tally to 20 compared to 15 last week – a 33% rise.

NHS figures do not get updated over the weekend or on bank holidays.

A mobile testing unit arrived in Skegness over the weekend, encouraging people to keep testing as numbers on the coast have raised concerns.

Volunteers wandered up and down the beachside areas handing out home-testing kits and offering to help people carry them out.

Lincolnshire County Council’s Director of Public Health Professor Derek Ward said: “We’ve got to live with COVID, it only takes 30 minutes [to test].

“By the time you’ve got the car packed, you’ve got a result. We’ve got to keep screening to see if anybody’s got the disease and if you do have you’re not passing it on to others.”

The mobile testing site will be available until Wednesday.

Lincolnshire’s coronavirus cases up to August 27. | Image: GOV.uk

Nationally, over the weekend it was confirmed that arrivals from Canada and Denmark would not have to isolate, while the UK’s green list has also ben expanded to include Finland, Switzerland, the Azores, Liechtenstein and Lithuania.

However, Thailand and Montenegro are now on the red list and will need to isolate in government-approved hotels.

Elsewhere, New Zealand’s officials say they “remain confident” about using coronavirus vaccine after reporting what could be the first death linked to the Pfizer vaccine.

A vaccine safety board said the woman’s death was “probably” due to myocarditis or inflammation of the heart muscle, a side effect of the jab, but also said other medical issues could have “influenced the outcome following vaccination”.

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Monday, August 30

97,946 cases (up 421)

  • 64,233 in Lincolnshire (up 281)
  • 15,123 in North Lincolnshire (up 79)
  • 18,590 in North East Lincolnshire (up 61)

2,275 deaths (up one)

  • 1,670 from Lincolnshire (up one)
  • 311 from North Lincolnshire (no change)
  • 294 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)

of which 1,363 hospital deaths (no change)

  • 839 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (no change)
  • 44 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
  • 1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
  • 479 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)

6,731,423 UK cases, 132,437 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.