Coronavirus latest: 36 cases and one death reported in Luton today as numbers creep up

The total number of cases in the borough now stands at 21,017 (+36).

Over the past seven days, 130 people were diagnosed with Covid-19 in Luton up by 38 (+41.3%) from the previous week.

One new death has been reported today in Luton, with 500 in total since the pandemic began - using the lower estimate of 'deaths reported in 28 days of a positive test'.

The case rate in Luton is 42.2 per 100,000.

Public Health England reports that 95,882 (50.9%) adults in Luton have received their first dose of a Covid vaccine, while 56,166 (29.8%) have received both doses.

There have been 4,477,705 lab-confirmed cases across the UK, up by a daily rise of 4,182.

127,768 deaths have been recorded within 28 days of a positive test, up by 10 today.

Last week, Luton Borough Council's public health chief revealed the government had not granted the council's request to expand its vaccine rollout.

Director of public health, Lucy Hubber said: "Luton’s population is much more vulnerable to Covid-19 due to a number of complex factors, such as social deprivation, a high proportion of frontline workers unable to work from home... and large numbers of multi-generational households making it a greater challenge to effectively self-isolate.

“We have a super-diverse multi-cultural community, which also means high numbers of permitted international travel will always contribute to our high rates.

"In late April, Luton Council asked to be able to extend vaccination to all residents ahead of the national programme because of these greater risks within communities. It has also asked for greater flexibility in the ways that the vaccine is offered to reduce barriers to uptake.

"Neither of these requests have been approved by the government."