Confirmed cases of coronavirus in the county have continued to rise "rapidly" and stood at 53, as of yesterday.

Leicestershire county council's director of public health, Mike Sandys, revealed the figure in an urgent update to cabinet – which was attended by only three councillors who all sat two metres apart – this afternoon.

But he warned that the figure was only a snapshot of the situation, with community testing ceasing ten days ago with only certain people now being swabbed.

"We are now firmly into the delay phase and action being taken is designed to lower the peak and push away from winter months when the NHS is under the most pressure," he said.

"We've seen a rapid increase now over the past four of five days and there were 53 confirmed cases as of yesterday.

"It's important to stress this is only a section of cases, community testing stopped ten days ago apart from those in clinical need or in certain settings."

Other cabinet members dialled in and took part in the meeting via video link after the Prime Minister introduced stricter lockdown measures yesterday and told people to "stay at home".

A £1 million fund has been set up to support the county's voluntary and community sector as coronavirus lockdown kicks in.

It is one of several urgent moves that have been taken by Leicestershire County Council in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The £1 million hardship fund, approved by cabinet, will enable local groups – who will be impacted by things like reduced café sales, room rental or donations – to keep on providing essential support to people who are isolating and reducing social contact.

Leader, councillor Nick Rushton said: "These are troubling times.

"We want to do what we can to help the voluntary and community sector. We don't want these places disappearing for the sake of a few hundred or few thousand pounds.

"This is important."

Senior officers updating cabinet said that the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) – made up of representatives from local public services, including the emergency services, local authorities, the NHS and others- is preparing for increased mortality rates, issues with health and social care and to support vulnerable people who are self isolating.

The LRF, which is currently chaired by the county council's director of public health, Mike Sandys, is expected to declare a major incident imminently. When that happens chairmanship passes to the police.

Councillors also approved plans to simplify certain rules about social care, reduce paperwork to lessen the load on frontline staff and make allowances for staff to work from home.

National legislation is also expected so that virtual meetings can be held during the lockdown.

Members thanked council staff who are working from home or have been switched into new roles to help deal with the impact of the highly contagious virus.

Coun Rushton said: "I'd like to put on record cabinet's appreciation to those members of staff who are working during these difficult times here or at home, my members have asked me to thank them as has Simon Galton, leader of the opposition and Coun Terri Eynon, leader of the Labour group. We are all wanting to express our thanks."

Meanwhile deputy leader Blake Pain urged people to follow government advice. "Please stay at home. We're putting immense pressure on our emergency services and others," he said.

"The best thing we can do is to stay at home and heed the advice of the government."

Daily meetings are being held to coordinate the council's response and ensure critical services can still be provided.

Continuing social care provision is one of the authority's key priorities.

A host of services have been affected by the lockdown.

The council announced today that recycling and household waste sites would be closed until further notice.

Weddings have been cancelled for the next three weeks with no dates yet reset and libraries and museums have also closed their doors.

Country parks were closed this weekend after people failed to follow government advice to stay at home – leading to Boris Johnson announcing an even stricter lockdown.