A map showing the latest coronavirus hotspots has revealed that cases are continuing to rise across the Braintree district as the infections rate rises to over 800. Essex is currently under tier 4, the highest level of coronavirus restrictions, but on Wednesday (December 30) the Government will review the tiers. Data from Public Health England shows that the infection rate across the district stands at 821.1 per 100,000 people. It also shows that 1,253 cases have been recorded in the last seven days. The latest data is for the week leading up to December 22. The highest infection rate is in Bocking Churchstreet & Blackwater where the rate has soared to 1,249.9 and 116 new cases have been recorded in the last seven days.
Emergency services received 109 calls for help in Bourne, Spalding, Pinchbeck and Weston areas after flooding
| Updated: 16:16, 24 December 2020
Firefighters received 109 calls as a result of yesterday s bad weather.
Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue says that South Holland and South Kesteven were the worst hit areas of the county with calls coming in from 2pm.
Flood related problems were reported in Spalding, Little London, Pinchbeck, Deeping St Nicolas, Surfleet and Weston.
Fire news (43307312)
However, Bourne had some of the worst problems with flooding.
Crews assisted police in Milestone Road after a vehicle was stranded in the water while officers also pumped water from a home in Pinfold Road.
New playground equipment for North Witham
| Updated: 09:13, 17 December 2020
Children are set to benefit from a £31,000 investment in play equipment and their safety.
The playground in North Witham will have £31,177 spent on it through a grant from FCC Communities Foundation, which awards Landfill Communities Fund money.
The grant will be used to resurfacing the existing playground, replace equipment and bring it up to current standards.
The playground is behind North Witham Village Hall
Councillor Caroline Hainsworth, chairman of Colsterworth and District Parish Council said: âThe project will provide a real boost to the community.
âItâs fantastic that the FCC Communities Foundation has awarded us this money and we are looking forward to the new play area to take shape in 2021.â
BRAINTREE residents have been urged to stick to the coronavirus restrictions as hospitals in Essex begin to rollout a vaccine. The warning has come from the area s MP, James Cleverly, who hailed the start of the vaccination programme as a remarkable day . But the news was somewhat dampened by the announcement of a further coronavirus-related deaths in Braintree. All three deaths were recorded in hospital in the week ending November 27 and takes the overall total to 137 since the pandemic began. The first doses of the approved Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine were administered in the UK on Tuesday, with 94-year-old war veteran Frederick Benton one of the first to receive it in Essex.