The latest figures place Southwark third in the capital for Covid case rates in the week leading up to Christmas – and neighbouring Lambeth has the most.
For the week ending December 22 Southwark reported 8,547 cases, up 2,726. This is a rise of 46.8 per cent and means that like thirteen other boroughs in London more than one in 50 people are testing positive.
The top five boroughs for new cases were south of the river, with Lambeth recording 9,701 cases in that week alone, an increase of 41 per cent on the previous week. Wandsworth had the second highest with 9,453 cases and in fourth place is Croydon with 8,003 new cases. Croydon also saw the highest percentage increase of any London borough over the seven-day period, with a 79.2 per cent rise in cases.
Neighbouring Lewisham was fifth highest for case rates with 7,792 up 67.8 per cent.
But on a positive note these figures show the percentage increases are a great deal less than the previous week to December 17, suggesting that the Omicron wave is slowing in London.
What’s more in the days after December 22, when more than 28,000 cases were reported in London, daily cases in the capital have fallen steadily with 4,420 reported on Boxing Day.
NHS figures nationally reveal that England has the highest number of Covid-19 patients in hospital since March last year, at 8,474, as of 8am yesterday (Monday, December 27).
But Chris Hopson the chief executive of NHS Providers, has warned against over-interpreting the hospitalisation data, saying many people tested positive after arriving for treatment for other illnesses. He told BBC Breakfast today (Tuesday December 28): “In the previous peaks, we’ve had some very seriously ill older people who’ve got really significant respiratory problems and… they had to go into critical care.
“The difference this time is we’ve got quite a few patients who are coming in – they might have fallen off their bike and knocked their head or broken their leg – and what’s happening is they’ve got no symptoms but when they arrive, they’re actually testing positive for Covid.”
Of course the cases are going down . There are no tests to be had anywhere