London Covid rates by borough revealed as cases soar and Omicron sweeps through capital - December 15th

Every London borough has seen Covid cases surge in a week as the Omicron variant sweeps through the capital.

Inner London boroughs are seeing the highest rises with some recording a 70 per cent increase in infections in the week ending Friday December 10, according to the latest Government data.

Southwark recorded 2,391 new infections, almost 1,000 more than the previous week.

Hackney also saw infections increase by more than 70 per cent, while Islington and Tower Hamlets both saw cases go up by over 60 per cent.

It comes as England’s chief medical officer professor Chris Whitty warned case records "will be broken a lot over the next few weeks" and the UK saw the highest number of daily infections since the start of the pandemic.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference on Wednesday evening, Professor Whitty said: “What we’ve got is two epidemics on top of one another – an existing Delta epidemic, roughly flat, and a very rapidly-growing Omicron epidemic on top of it.”

He said Omicron was “moving at an absolutely phenomenal pace” and it will only be a short time until we get to “very large numbers”, adding he thought the variant was a “very serious threat” and “all the things that we do know (about Omicron) are bad”.

Prof Whitty also suggested people in the UK should “deprioritise” certain social contacts over Christmas.

Alongside him was Boris Johnson, who tried to strike a more positive note saying a “great national fightback has begun” against Omicron through the booster jab programme.

The Prime Minister said he still believed this Christmas will be better than last, but urged people to be cautious.

He said people should “think carefully before you go, what kind of event is it? Are you likely to meet people who are vulnerable?... Get a test, make sure there is ventilation, wear a mask on transport.”

He insisted the Government's Plan B was the right thing to do, adding that boosters also “provide an excellent level of protection”.

Mr Johnson added: “We think that, given the balance of risks and the balance of continuing uncertainties about Omicron, this is the right approach to take.. to do these things at once.

“The progress we are making with the booster is vital... we really are boosting huge numbers of people now.”

Nearly one-quarter of these were recorded in London, as the capital saw 19,294 positive tests.

Data from Barts Health, London largest health trust, shows it had 146 Covid-positive patients across its five hospitals on Wednesday.

The trust said 18 were diagnosed in the previous 24 hours and 34 patients were in intensive care or on enhanced levels of oxygen.

More than 650,000 had their booster jab in the UK on December 14, bringing the total to 24.7million people.

The detailed Covid case figures for London boroughs on Wednesday December 15 show:

  • Merton - 1380 cases, up 280 (25.5%) Case rate per 100,000 people 668.4
  • Southwark - 2391 cases, up 991 (70.8%) Case rate per 100,000 people 747.1
  • Waltham Forest - 1749 cases, up 374 (27.2%) Case rate per 100,000 people 631.5
  • Havering - 1624 cases, up 280 (20.8%) Case rate per 100,000 people 623.1
  • Islington - 1609 cases, up 658 (69.2%) Case rate per 100,000 people 648.5
  • Sutton - 1545 cases, up 129 (9.1%) Case rate per 100,000 people 743.8
  • Tower Hamlets - 1882 cases, up 708 (60.3%) Case rate per 100,000 people 566.9
  • Kingston - 1254 cases, up 247 (24.5%) rate 700 per 100,000 people
  • Lambeth - 2435 cases, up 891 (57.7%) Case rate per 100,000 people 756.7
  • Hackney and City of London - 1954 cases, up 819 (72.2%) Case rate per 100,000 people 669.5
  • Westminster - 1347 cases, up 428 (46.6%) Case rate per 100,000 people 499.2
  • Redbridge - 1685 cases, up 295 (21.2%) Case rate per 100,000 people 551.3
  • Kensington and Chelsea - 865 cases, up 126 (17.1%) Case rate per 100,000 people 551.4
  • Bexley - 1571 cases, up 286 (22.3%) Case rate per 100,000 people 630.2
  • Croydon - 2488 cases, up 661 (36.2%) Case rate per 100,000 people 640.3
  • Richmond - 1443 cases, up 14 (8.6%) Case rate per 100,000 people 728.3
  • Lewisham - 2175 cases, up 711 (48.6%) Case rate per 100,000 people 712.4
  • Brent -1652 cases, up 501 (43.5%) Case rate per 100,000 people 504.0
  • Newham - 1858 cases, up 572 (44.5%) Case rate per 100,000 people 523.0
  • Bromley - 2251 cases, up 308 (15.9%) Case rate per 100,000 people 676.5
  • Hammersmith and Fulham - 1364 cases, up 345 (33.9%) Case rate per 100,000 people 743.1
  • Hillingdon - 1477 cases, up 254 (20.8%) Case rate per 100,000 people 478.0
  • Greenwich - 2023 cases, up 532 (35.7%) Case rate per 100,000 people 699.9
  • Wandsworth - 2471 cases, up 768 (45.1%) Case rate per 100,000 people 749.4
  • Hounslow - 1491 cases, up 253 (20.4%) Case rate per 100,000 people 548.6
  • Camden - 1458 cases, up 388 (36.3%) Case rate per 100,000 people 521.6
  • Enfield - 1786 cases, up 589 (49.2%) Case rate per 100,000 people 535.4
  • Barking and Dagenham - 1281 cases, up 429 (50.4%) Case rate per 100,000 people 598.3
  • Ealing - 1913 cases, up 381 (24.9%) Case rate per 100,000 people 562.1
  • Haringey - 1559 cases, up 512 (48.9%) Case rate per 100,000 people 585.3
  • Harrow - 1228 cases, up 273 (28.6%) Case rate per 100,000 people 486.6
  • Barnet - 2157 cases, up 381 (21.5%) Case rate per 100,000 people 540.6

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