Concerns as covid cases rise in Bexley by 25 per cent in a week
There are concerns that London will enter tier 3 as cases grew sharply across parts of London – even before lockdown ended.
Bexley saw cases rise by 25 per cent in a week up to 2nd December according to Public Health England. Bromley saw a 40 per cent increase. Lewisham was up 15 per cent while Greenwich was down 1%. Across London two thirds of boroughs recorded increases. Since then many shops and restaurants have reopened.
Data from the Greater London Authority shows 2,754 cases across London on 2nd December when lockdown ended. A week before the number was 2,028.
UPDATE:
Figures by borough do now show a worsening in Greenwich borough since 2nd December. Numbers released show a 33% increase.
Bexley has moderated from 25% to 15.4% though rates per 100k residents are still the highest:
Bromley is still high at 38.5%:
Lewisham is up from 15% to 19% though rates per 100k residents are the lowest among the four SE London boroughs covered here:
Cases are only one piece of the puzzle and can vary due to variables such as mass testing of targeted groups. Hospitalisations are key, and numbers nationwide that reduced after two weeks of lockdown have somewhat stalled over the past five days. Data shows increases in London and other areas:
In spring London was at the forefront of covid cases though the situation was somewhat different for lockdown 2. Areas of the north east and north west generally had higher case rates than London in the autumn – though the capital was still seeing increases. Towards the end of the second lockdown many previous areas of growth in the north began to see reductions while areas such as north Kent and London recently saw cases increase.
Tier changes could occur in the second half of December and number sin coming days will be closely watched.
Vaccines are being rolled out from today though numbers receiving jabs will be limited in coming weeks.
You can view GLA data here.
NHS England data is here.
A UK Government website that collates information to give a general national picture is here.
