Four new cases of coronavirus confirmed in Milton Keynes today

As of today (September 1), Milton Keynes has recorded four new cases in 24 hours, with a total of 972 people now diagnosed with the deadly virus, according to the latest figures from Public Health England.

Buckinghamshire now a total of 1,943. Neighbouring Bedford has a total of 1,445 people now diagnosed. Central Bedfordshire has a total of 1,368 and Luton 1,735.

Three new testing stations are shortly to be set up in MK to encourage more people to get tested for the virus. These will in in the areas of Bletchley, Wolverton and Woughton and will be in addition to the drive-thru testing station in Central Milton Keynes.

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.

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.

However, there is now a cut-off point of 28 days from the first laboratory-confirmed positive COVID test.

The figures for the number of patients recovered from COVID-19 have not been released by Public Health England.

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

Nationally, the number of coronavirus cases now stands at 337,168. The number of deaths has been recorded as 41,504.

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