Coronavirus latest: 90 new cases in Luton on final day before new tier is announced

The total number of cases in the borough now stands at 5,427 (+90), according to figures from Public Health England.

Tomorrow, local authorities across the country will discover which of the three tiers of restrictions they have been placed into.

The case rate in Luton is currently 293.4 per 100,000.

Elsewhere in the county, Central Bedfordshire has 3,412 (+29) cases while Bedford's figure is at 3,167 (+36).

There have been 1,557,007 lab-confirmed cases across the UK, up by a daily rise of 18,213.

56,533 deaths have been recorded within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, with 696 added today.

It was reported on Monday that the UK government has ordered 100m doses of a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca.

Preliminary testing suggests the vaccine is 70% effective, but researchers say this figure could rise to over 90% by tweaking the dose.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC: "The bulk of the vaccine roll-out programme will be in January, February and March.

"We hope that sometime after Easter, things will be able to start to get back to normal.”