County on downward trend, despite Boston infection spike

Boston currently has the highest infection rate in the county with 191 per 100,000 people as of Thursday evening — above the England average of 137.8 and ranked 56th nationally.

As of February 16, Boston has carried out nearly 5,000 rapid COVID tests with 129 positive results in their district.

Professor Derek Ward, Director of Public Health for Lincolnshire County Council, reiterated that people should be looking at a seven-day rolling average of infection rates for increased accuracy and, therefore, Boston wasn’t a particular current concern.

He said: “We’ve got to keep an eye on the general direction […] if you look on a daily level, you’re always going to be seeing the numbers bounce around” and “if you don’t spread them out over a reasonable amount of time.”

In Lincolnshire, as of February 18, there have been around 17,700 lateral flow tests in total, and more than 250 positives — a positivity rate of 1.5%.

Professor Ward added: “We are on a downward trend, but I think overall as a county, our key messages that the infection does seem to be in our working age adults.