Coronavirus infection rates across 20 London boroughs are HIGHER than parts of England already in local lockdowns
CORONAVIRUS rates in 20 London boroughs are higher than in areas of England where local lockdowns apply, new data reveals. It comes as Sadiq Khan demand a new lockdown for the capital – including a ban on households mixing. Public Health England’s most recent watchlist shows the authority in England with the lowest case rate […]
CORONAVIRUS rates in 20 London boroughs are higher than in areas of England where local lockdowns apply, new data reveals.
It comes as Sadiq Khan demand a new lockdown for the capital – including a ban on households mixing.
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Public Health England’s most recent watchlist shows the authority in England with the lowest case rate considered an ‘area of intervention’ – the highest degree of concern – is Ribble Valley.
The Lancashire borough has 18.3 cases per 100,000 people.
But Kensington and Chelsea, Enfield and Southwark, among others, have infection rates higher than that.
Currently, the three worst-hit areas in London are Redbridge – with 34.2 cases per 100,000 people, Hounslow with 32.5 cases and Dagenham with 29.3 cases.
Now Mr Khan said officials must extend the latest Covid crackdowns on hotspots in the north-east and west to cover the capital too.
He also wants people to work from home again, despite the Government’s push to get people back to offices.
Many commuters have not yet returned to their desks in the city, with Tube demand at just 33 per cent of its pre-pandemic levels.
News of rising infections in London comes as:
- Sir Patrick Vallance today warned the UK faces 50,000 new daily cases of coronavirus by the middle of October
- Chris Whitty says the nation needs to view the fight against the disease as a “six-month problem” over winter before science eventually can “ride to our rescue”
- Boris Johnson plans to impose a 10pm curfew on all pubs from tomorrow
- The PM is also plotting a Covid rules “enforcement blitzkreig” tomorrow, with eateries and bars to be shut down by patrols if they allow punters to flout the “rule of six”
- And people living in England could face bans on seeing their family, friends and lovers in other households again in fresh lockdown measures
Across London as a whole, the rate of cases is reported to have increased in from 18.8 per 100,000 people to around 25 in just a week.
It’s a rise of 33 per cent in seven days – faster than the north east, which last week was hit by tougher restrictions to control the spread of the virus.
If it crosses over 50, a ‘local lockdown’ could be triggered, documents seen by The Evening Standard reveal.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that some 178,000 people – 0.2 per cent of London’s population – currently have coronavirus.
Figures show Redbridge, a borough in the east of the city, has the highest Covid-19 infection rate at 34.2.
Nationally, Bolton still has the highest number of infections, with 175.2 per 100,000 people.
Yesterday, Health Secretary Hancock admitted London could go into lockdown.
In an interview on Sky News, he said: “I’ve had discussions this week with the Mayor of London, and the teams are meeting today to discuss further what might be needed.”
It follows weeks of alarm over a surge in new cases.
Another 4,368 people were diagnosed with the deadly bug overnight, while another 11 people have died.
In his speech today, Prof Whitty says there is “no evidence” that suggests that the virus is a milder strain now than than seen at the peak of the pandemic in April.
And he said mortality rates from Covid-19 were “significantly greater” than seasonal flu, which killed around 7,000 annually, or 20,000 in a bad year.
Ministers are considering a two- to three-week ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown in a bid to quell cases.
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On Friday, the PM said a second wave is “inevitable” in the UK.
Asked if the Government had eased lockdown too quickly, he said: “They got that peak under control, they brought it right down, they brought the number of infections right down by discipline and everybody adjusting our behaviours and the way we go about our lives – hands, face, space.
“And I think probably, truth to tell, what’s happened here and what alas has happened in so many other countries is that people find it difficult to keep this up.”
