London Covid cases fall in 22 boroughs but infections still ‘extremely high’

The capital’s second wave appears to have peaked on January 4, but there are still ‘more difficult weeks ahead’

Covid-19 cases fell in 22 boroughs, according to the latest weekly figures which show that the second wave in London appears to have peaked in early January.

The biggest drop was in Havering in the week to January 9 of 25.4 per cent, followed by Bromley 25 per cent, Kingston 21.8 per cent, Richmond 21.6 per cent, Sutton 21.5 per cent and Merton 18.2 per cent.

East London, the hardest hit area of the city, is also seeing falls, with confirmed cases down 15.9 per cent in Redbridge, 11.5 per cent in Tower Hamlets, 7.6 per cent in Barking and Dagenham, and 7.5 per cent in Bexley.

The other areas to see smaller declines in cases are Enfield, Barnet, Hammersmith and Fulham, Camden, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Greenwich, Haringey, Hackney and the City of London, Westminster, Hounslow and Lewisham.

However, ten boroughs are still seeing rises, with the largest in Ealing of 12.9 per cent, followed by Lambeth 12.2 per cent and Southwark 9.2 per cent.

The second wave appears to have peaked on January 4, with a seven-day rate in the capital of 1,117.1 new cases per 100,000 Londoners and 100,112 cases that week, compared to a rate of 993.4 on January 9 with 89,026 cases for that week.

But the case figures have been particularly volatile over the Christmas and New Year period and are not yet showing signs of falling sharply and may still fluctuate up and down.

Seventeen boroughs also have a seven-day infection rate of more than 1,000 new cases per 100,000 people and a further 9,804 infections were announced yesterday.

London’s public health chief Professor Kevin Fenton told The Standard: “Case rates in London remain extremely high and around 10,000 Londoners were diagnosed with Covid every day this week.

“This level of transmission is severe, and continues to drive pressure on the NHS, with more Londoners being admitted to ICU and ultimately dying from this disease or having long-term complications.

“As a result, we have more difficult weeks ahead of us. This more contagious variant means we are unlikely to see sharp declines like we did in the first wave, and the longer cases remain high, the more deaths we will see.”

The London regional director for Public Health England added: “That is why we must work twice as hard to reduce transmission and lower infections. Staying at home and cutting our contacts will stop the virus spreading, reduce cases more quickly and ultimately save lives.”

Hospitals in the city are under huge pressure after a surge in Covid patients, with 7,840 being treated as of January 14, including 1,163 so ill that they are on ventilators.

There were 875 coronavirus admissions to hospitals in the capital on January 12, and 5,846 in the week to this date.

A separate report published on Thursday showed the number of Covid incidents in care homes in the capital has risen to 147 a week.

The seven-day infection rate for Londoners aged 60 and over, who are more vulnerable to coronavirus, also remains worryingly high at 878.9 new cases in the week to January 9 per 100,000, and 1015.9 for people below this age.

Another 1,248 fatalities were announced on Thursday of people in the UK who had tested positive for Covid within 28 days, including 197 in London taking the total for the city to 10,550 since the pandemic struck.

The full figures show that in Havering there were 2661 cases in the week to January 9, down 905 (25.4%) with a rate of 1,025.2, Bromley 2851 cases, down 950 (25%) with a rate of 857.9, Kingston 1160 cases, down 324 (21.8%) with a rate of 653.5, Richmond 1019 cases, down 281 (21.6%) with a rate of 514.6, Sutton 1854 cases, down 507 (21.5%) with a rate of 898.5, Merton 1775 cases, down 395 (18.2%) with a rate of 859.4, Redbridge 3855 cases, down 728 (15.9%) with a rate of 1,263, Tower Hamlets 3663 cases, down 474 (11.5%) with a rate of 1,128, Barking and Dagenham 3216 cases, down 264 (7.6%) with a rate of 1,510.5, Bexley 2805 cases, down 226 (7.5%) with a rate of 1,129.7, and Enfield 3854 cases, down 313 (7.5%) with a rate of 1,154.6.

Barnet saw 3760 cases, down 288 (7.1%) with a rate of 949.8, Hammersmith and Fulham 1353 cases, down 82 (5.7%) with a rate of 730.8, Camden 1767 cases, down 63 (3.4%) with a rate of 654.4, Waltham Forest 3076 cases, down 93 (2.9%) with a rate of 1,110.5, Wandsworth 2539 cases, down 72 (2.8%) with a rate of 770.1, Greenwich 3102 cases, down 83 (2.6%) with a rate of 1,077.3, Haringey 2765 cases, down 63 (2.2%) with a rate of 1,029.2, Hackney and City of London 2630 cases, down 50 (1.9%) with a rate of 904.3, Westminster 1524 cases, down 17 (1.1%) with a rate of 583.2, Hounslow 2998 cases, down  22 (0.7%) with a rate of 1,104.1, and Lewisham 3167 cases, down six (0.2%) with a rate of 1,035.5.

In Newham, there were 4968 cases, up two (0%) with a rate of 1,406.8, Hillingdon 3091 cases, up 20 (0.7%) with a rate of 1,007.3, Islington 1919 cases, up 15 (0.8%) with a rate of 791.4, Croydon 4247 cases, up 50 (1.2%) with a rate of 1,098.2, Harrow 2413 cases, up 47 (2%) with a rate of 960.7, Kensington and Chelsea 1064 cases, up 55 (5.5%) with a rate of 681.5, Brent 3653 cases, up 318 (9.5%) with a rate of 1,107.7, Southwark 3280 cases, up 276 (9.2%) with a rate of 1,028.8, Lambeth 3251 cases, up 354 (12.2%) with a rate of 997.1, and Ealing 3746 cases, up 429 (12.9%) with a rate of 1,095.9.

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