Is London facing Tier Three before Christmas? Covid cases are rising in the capital and outbreaks are growing in 21 boroughs, official data reveals
- Coronavirus infection rates rose in two thirds of the city’s boroughs in the last week of lockdown, up to Dec 2
- The rate of positive tests per person surged by 47 per cent in the borough of Haringey in most recent week
- Mayor of the city, Sadiq Khan, today said it would be catastrophic if the city is pushed into Tier Three
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London could find itself facing a Tier Three lockdown just a week before Christmas as data shows infections are rising in two thirds of the city’s boroughs.
Government officials are set to meet on December 16 to review the local lockdown rules they set out when England’s national shutdown ended last week.
And the numbers in the capital are moving in the wrong direction, with cases per person up by half in the worst affected corners of the city and chaotic photos from the weekend showing shopping streets packed with people.
In Haringey, positive coronavirus tests surged by 47 per cent in the week ending December 2, despite a national lockdown still being in place.
Bromley saw its infection rate rise by 40 per cent in the last week of lockdown, according to Public Health England data, and there were spikes of 25 per cent or more in Bexley, Hackney, Harrow, Kingston and Merton.
Officials are reported to be ‘starting to get worried about it again’ and Mayor Sadiq Khan today warned that sending London into Tier Three would be ‘catastrophic’.
Concerns about the city, which is home to nine million people, come as the number of people testing positive across the country has started to rise again just five days after the second lockdown finished, with 14,718 more cases confirmed today.
And the numbers in the capital are moving in the wrong direction, with cases per person up by half in the worst affected corners of the city and chaotic photos from the weekend showing shopping streets packed with people. Red shows areas where the infection rate has risen in a week, while green shows the boroughs that have seen a fall in cases
London’s Regent Street was rammed on Saturday as shoppers flooded back to high streets on the first weekend after coronavirus restrictions were eased following the end of the second lockdown at the start of what is expected to be a £1.5billion spending spree today
Shoppers are pictured on Oxford Street today, December 7, as officials will next week be forced to decide whether the current social distancing rules in the city are strict enough to keep the coronavirus under control
A source inside Public Health England told The Telegraph there is ‘concern across the system’ about how busy London was at the weekend and said there were fears the city would have to be put back into lockdown.
In Tier Three rules, which are currently applied across most of the Midlands and the North, as well as Kent and Bristol, people are not allowed to socialise indoors or in enclosed gardens with anyone from another household and restaurants and cafés must close.
Speaking to Sky News today, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: ‘If London were to go into Tier Three it would be catastrophic to those industries already really crippling under the Covid pandemic.
‘That could mean many shops going bust, many bars, pubs and restaurants going bust.
‘We’re keen to make sure we stay in Tier Two. Tier Two, as well, has got many challenges for us but it’s really important that London has continued to make the huge sacrifices they’ve done.
‘Nobody wants London to go into Tier Three or even the country to go into a further, third, national lockdown.’
Public Health England data shows that 20 of London’s boroughs have infection rates higher than the England average, and 21 boroughs have rates that rose in the seven days up to December 2.
The raw number of positive tests per 100,000 people, and the speed at which they are increasing or decreasing, are both factors that the Joint Biosecurity Centre take into account when they consider local lockdown levels.
Havering is the borough with the highest infection rate, recording 319 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in the most recent week, which is more than double England’s average 149 per 100,000.
