UPDATE: Bedford records almost 450 cases of coronavirus in just 24 hours as country enters third lockdown

As of today (January 5), Bedford has recorded 448 new cases of coronavirus, with a total of 7,497 people now diagnosed with the deadly virus, according to the latest figures from Public Health England.

There were three deaths in Bedford (261), four deaths in Luton (285) and four deaths in Central Bedfordshire (334).

Last night (Monday), Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced England would go into a third lockdown to help reduce the spread of the virus which is now being driven by a new mutation.

Central Bedfordshire has 295 new Covid cases with a total of 9,302, while Luton recorded 360 with a new total of 11,265.

Meanwhile, Buckinghamshire now has 18,307 cases of Covid, Hertfordshire has 46,128 and Milton Keynes has 12,009 cases.

The new figures are recorded between 5pm the previous day to 5pm and unfortunately don't include the number of patients who have recovered from Covid-19.

Nationally, the number of coronavirus cases has risen by 60,916 and now stands at 2,774,479. The number of deaths has risen by 830 to 76,305.

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