Coronavirus latest: 16 new cases in Luton as nearly half of adults receive first dose of vaccine

The total number of cases in the borough now stands at 20,929 (+16).

Over the past seven days, 90 people were diagnosed with Covid-19 in Luton up by 13 (+16.9%) from the previous week.

No new deaths have been reported in well over a week in Luton, with 499 in total since the pandemic began.

The case rate in Luton is 49.8 per 100,000.

Public Health England reports that 93,683 (49.7%) adults in Luton have received their first dose of a Covid vaccine, while 51,194 (27.2%) have received both doses.

There have been 4,467,310 lab-confirmed cases across the UK, up by a daily rise of 2,493.

127,739 deaths have been recorded within 28 days of a positive test, up by 15 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."