The number of recorded coronavirus cases in Buckinghamshire increased by 306 in the last 24 hours, official figures show.

Public Health England figures show that 26,606 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 by 9am on Thursday (January 28) in Buckinghamshire, up from 26,300 the same time on Wednesday.

Five more deaths were also recorded at the Bucks NHS Trust in the last day.

The health body is now including Pillar 2 tests – those carried out by commercial partners – alongside Pillar 1 tests, which are analysed in NHS or PHE laboratories and which made up the first stage of the Government's mass testing programme.

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The rate of infection in Buckinghamshire now stands at 4,891 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average of 5,817.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 28,680 over the period, to 3,743,734.

Buckinghamshire's cases were among the 470,904 recorded across the South East, a figure which rose by 4,087 over the period.

Cumulative case counts include patients who are currently unwell, have recovered and those that have died.