Covid: Parts of Lincolnshire see Covid infections double in a week

Case rates in parts of Lincolnshire have more than doubled over the past week

Covid infections have more than doubled in some parts of Lincolnshire over the past week, figures show.

The increase is being blamed on the more transmissible Omicron BA.2 sub-variant, waning immunity and increased social mixing.

The region's director of public health Derek Ward said people needed to take precautions and get jabbed.

He said the case rate was probably also much higher due to a sharp fall in the number of people testing.

In the past week, North Kesteven has seen cases rise from 403 to 889 per 100,000 people.

Similarly, in South Kesteven, cases have risen from 478 to 1,003, and in North Lincolnshire from 407 to 906.

The area as a whole has seen cases rise from 428 to 583, Mr Ward said.

• Covid: Five things we still need to keep an eye on

• What are the UK's Living with Covid plans?

"There is no doubt the numbers are going up [as] the number of people testing has gone down quite significantly," he said.

Mr Ward said it was "completely understandable", given free testing was due to end for most people on 1 April.

Mr Ward urged people to take precautions wherever possible

He said said there were three main factors driving the increase:

• The Omicron BA.2 sub-variant being up to 40% more transmissible

• The lifting of restrictions, with people "just getting back to their normal life"

• Waning immunity, particularly in the older population

The rise so far had only translated into a "slight increase" in hospital admissions, but not to intensive care, Mr Ward said.

However, he added: "The more the numbers go up, the more the likelihood that we will see some impact."

Mr Ward said he also expected new variants to emerge in the future, and urged everyone to remember the message of the past two years - hands, face, space - and to get jabbed as "your first line of defence... against whatever comes next".

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust said 57 patients were currently in hospital with Covid, up from 35 last Tuesday. None of the patients was in intensive care.