ovid-19 cases have fallen so quickly in parts of London that one borough now has a seven-day rate below 40, official figures reveal today.
Confirmed cases are continuing to fall fastest in the capital, compared to other regions.
However, the decline in the disease in the city is slowing, with the prospect that cases may start to plateau in some areas and then creep up again.
Islington had the lowest seven-day rate of 38.8 new infections per 100,000 people in the week to February 18, after a fall in cases of 56.5 per cent in a week.
Tower Hamlets had a rate of 50.2, Camden 53.3, Westminster 54.3, Lewisham 56.9 and Bromley 57.5.
London’s seven-day rate was down 32.1 per cent in the week to February 18 to 86.8 new confirmed infections per 100,000, though the real number of cases is significantly higher, partly due to so many people have the disease asymptomatically.
The official figures show:
– A further 923 cases announced for the capital on Tuesday.
– 23 boroughs now have a seven-day rate below 100, with nine above this level which public health chiefs want areas across the city to get below before lockdown is eased.
– Hounslow has the highest rate at 153.6.
– Some boroughs saw their rate nudge up compared to previous days.
– Health chiefs say reducing cases further once levels get low can be more difficult as people catching the virus are often those least able to be protected from it, such as key workers or individuals who are not able to work from home.
– There were 2,737 coronavirus patients in London’s hospitals as of Monday, down from a second wave peak of 7,917 on January 18, with 653 so ill that they are on ventilators.
The lowest Covid seven-day rate in the country is the South West on 75.4 after a weekly fall of 25 per cent, followed by the South East on 84.7 following a drop of 22.3 per cent, and then London.
The Eastern region was on 102.1 down 22.7 per cent, Yorkshire and the Humber on 153 down 4.3 per cent, the North East 153.7 down 11.6 per cent, the North West 159.7 down 15.4 per cent, the West Midlands 163 down 16.9 per cent, and East Midlands 176.9 down 8.5 per cent.
The detailed figures for London show in:
* Islington there were 94 cases in the week to February 18, down 122 (56.5%) with a seven-day rate of 38.8
* Lewisham 174 cases, down 136 (43.9%) rate 56.9
* Bromley 191 cases, down 148 (43.7%) rate 57.5
* Tower Hamlets 163 cases, down 119 (42.2%) rate 50.2
* Enfield 230 cases, down 160 (41%) rate 68.9
* Hammersmith and Fulham 182 cases, down 113 (38.3%) rate 98.3
* Greenwich 203 cases, down 126 (38.3%) rate 70.5
* Wandsworth 239 cases, down 146 (37.9%) rate 72.5
* Brent 368 cases, down 224 (37.8%) rate 111.6
* Ealing 461 cases, down 277 (37.5%) rate 134.9
* Merton 221 cases, down 127 (36.5%) rate 107
* Richmond 130 cases, down 70 (35%) rate 65.7
* Westminster 142 cases, down 76 (34.9%) rate 54.3
* Havering 235 cases, down 121 (34%) rate 90.5
* Lambeth 278 cases, down 142 (33.8%) rate 85.3
* Haringey 195 cases, down 97 (33.2%) rate 72.6
* Sutton 178 cases, down 88 (33.1%) rate 86.3
* Newham 362 cases, down 169 (31.8%) rate 102.5
* Camden 144 cases, down 62 (30.1%) rate 53.3
* Barnet 333 cases, down 141 (29.7%) rate 84.1
* Harrow 276 cases, down 114 (29.2%) rate 109.9
* Waltham Forest 247 cases, down 90 (26.7%) rate 89.2
* Barking and Dagenham 267 cases, down 97 (26.6%) rate 125.4
* Hackney and City of London 190 cases, down 61 (24.3%) rate 65.3
* Croydon 371 cases, down 119 (24.3%) rate 95.9
* Hillingdon 439 cases, down 134 (23.4%) rate 143.1
* Hounslow 417 cases, down 127 (23.3%) rate 153.6
* Bexley 219 cases, down 63 (22.3%) rate 88.2
* Kingston 176 cases, down 49 (21.8%) rate 99.2
* Southwark 215 cases, down 58 (21.2%) rate 67.4
* Redbridge 313 cases, down 78 (19.9%) rate 102.5
* Kensington and Chelsea 126 cases, down 28 (18.2%) rate 80.7.
— to www.standard.co.uk
