New Covid-19 infections dropped yet again in Southwark over the past week, but at a slower rate than most other London local authorities.
Some 1,695 people tested positive for Covid in the seven days from February 9-February 15, down about 24 per cent from 2,238 the previous week, government figures show.
That makes Southwark the London borough with the sixth-highest number of new Covid cases over the past week, behind only Wandsworth, Barnet, Ealing, Croydon and Lambeth. Meanwhile only six boroughs recorded slower drops in new infections over the same period.
Despite this, Southwark’s new Covid infections are much lower than they were a month ago, and even further down from the period before Christmas, when the Omicron variant was spreading quickly through the capital.
The number of people who died within four weeks of testing positive for Covid stayed the same level over the past week, at seven.
It came as the NHS continued to urge people to get the booster jab. Nearly 150,000 people in Southwark have had their booster as of this week.
Dr Emily Lawson, who leads the vaccination programme for the NHS, said: “More than four in five eligible people aged 16 and over are double jabbed and over half have already taken up the offer of a booster, with tens of thousands still coming forward every day.
“However, NHS data shows that millions of people are overdue their booster by at least six weeks – four million people have not come forward for their top-up since they received reminders from the NHS in December – and while some had to delay because of a coronavirus infection it is still absolutely crucial that people get their booster in order to increase their protection against reinfection and the dangers of long Covid.”