UPDATE: Bedford has 19 new cases in 24 hours

As of today (October 19), Bedford has recorded 19 new cases, with a total of 2,047 people now diagnosed with the deadly virus, according to the latest figures from Public Health England.

There were no new deaths in the town - and in Central Bedfordshire, they had been revised down by one to 232 deaths.

However, Central Bedfordshire has 27 new cases of Covid, with a total of 1,946 and Luton has 45, with a new total of 2,663.

Nationally, the death toll has been 'recalculated' by officials. The new count is based on a new definition of who has died from Covid-19.

Previously, people in England who died at any stage following a positive test, regardless of the cause of their death, were counted in the figures.

Meanwhile, Buckinghamshire has 3,389 cases, Hertfordshire has 8,598 and Milton Keynes has 1,588 cases.

Previous data shared by Public Health England relied solely on Pillar 1 (testing from Public Health England and NHS Hospital Trusts), but as of Thursday, July 2, the information includes Pillar 2 (non-clinical and commercial testing).

It has seen a radical overhaul of how coronavirus infection data is presented across the country, with hundreds of new cases emerging in individual authorities.

The new figures are recorded between 5pm the previous day to 5pm.

Nationally, the number of coronavirus cases has risen by 18,804 and now stands at 741,212. The number of deaths has risen by 80 to 43,726.

The figures come from the Government website which is available for the public to view here