UPDATE: Bedford records 59 new cases but no deaths

As of today (December 15), Bedford has recorded 59 new cases of coronavirus, with a total of 3,992 people now diagnosed with the deadly virus, according to the latest figures from Public Health England.

There were two deaths in Central Bedfordshire (273), no deaths in Bedford (213) and one death in Luton (235).

The town - which had been in the medium tier before lockdown - has now been lumped in with the whole of the county in the 'high' Tier 2 with Luton currently recording over 3,200 more cases than Bedford.

Central Bedfordshire has 106 new Covid cases with a total of 4,764 - while Luton recorded 100 with a new total of 7,237.

Meanwhile, Buckinghamshire now has 9,580 cases of Covid, Hertfordshire has 22,441 and Milton Keynes has 5,311 cases.

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

Nationally, the number of coronavirus cases has risen by 18,450 and now stands at 1,888,116. The number of deaths has risen by 506 to 64,908.

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