Up to one in 40 people in Milton Keynes are currently infected with Covid, shock statistics have revealed

The government estimates that 1.1m people in the UK currently have the virus, and this equates to one in 50 people, or roughly 2 per cent of the population.

But the infection rate for the UK as a whole is 487 cases per 100,000 members of the population. In Milton Keynes the current rate is 893 cases per 100,000 - considerably above the national average.

This means the one in 50 statistic can be raised to around one 40. In London the estimated figure is one in every 30 people.

The figures were taken from random tests conducted between December 27 and January 2. Some people are asymptomatic and do not know they have the virus - but they can still infect others.

In his 5pm press conference, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said 23 per cent of all over 80-year-olds nationally had now been vaccinated.

He said the NHS hoped to have vaccinated everybody in the top four priority groups by February 15. These groups are older care home residents and staff, everyone over 70, all frontline NHS and care staff and all those who are clinically extremely vulnerable.

Already there are plans to turn Saxon Court, the former council offices in CMK, into a mass vaccination centre over the next few weeks.