Half the number of Covid cases in Milton Keynes compared to a week ago - but sadly deaths increase

The deaths have taken place over the past few days and all were people who had a positive Covid test over the past 28 days.

Nationally there were 1,610 deaths - the highest number on a single day since the outbreak began. Health experts say the high toll reflects the number of people who contracted the virus over Christmas.

Numbers of new cases in MK have continued to drop, with just 152 recorded over the past 24 hours. This is half the amount compared to a week ago.

The city's case rate is now down to 611.2 per 100,000 people. This compares to 506.5 for the whole of England.

Since the beginning of the pandemic 340 people have died in MK within 28 days of having a positive Covid test and 15,813 people have tested positive

MK hospital remains full of Covid patients and staff are still under extreme pressure. Currently there are 207 people admitted with the virus and nine of them are on ventilation.

Nationally, the number of new cases was 33,355 today.