UPDATE: Bedford records 33 new cases in 24 hours

As of today (October 29), Bedford has recorded 33 new cases, with a total of 2,310 people now diagnosed with the virus, according to the latest figures from Public Health England.

Bedford's deaths have been revised down to 173, and there were no deaths in Central Bedfordshire (235) or Luton (191).

In Central Bedfordshire, there were 37 new cases of Covid, with a total of 2,288 while Luton has 64, with a new total of 3,209. Luton will officially be moved into Tier-2 of the government's restrictions from midnight on Saturday, after a surge in cases.

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 now has 4,318 cases, Hertfordshire has 10,651 and Milton Keynes has 1,996 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 23,065 and now stands at 965,340. The number of deaths has risen by 280 to 45,955.

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