12 London boroughs breach threshold of 100 cases per 100,000 people as Sadiq Khan warns Tier 2 lockdown 'inevitable'
TWELVE of London's boroughs have breached the threshold of 100 cases per 100,000 people as Sadiq Khan warns of a Tier 2 lockdown in the city.
The London mayor said yesterday it is inevitable that the capital will hit the "trigger point" and be given tougher rules in "the next few days".
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Richmond upon Thames (140.4), Hackney and City of London (133.1) and Ealing (132.5) had the highest daily new cases per 100,000 people in the week to October 8, according to the latest Government figures.
Until now, none of the city's 32 boroughs had tipped the threshold, according to separate Public Health England data.
Croydon (69.8), Bromley (67.1) and Sutton (64) – all in the south – proved to have the fewest new cases per day — but all have seen a rise in infections over the past month.
The average Covid infection rate across London is 94.15 cases per 100,000 people, according to the most recent Department of Health data — the equivalent of nearly one person in every 1,000 in the last week.
However, London's figures appear to be overinflated due to students studying in other cities with a registered London address.
Last week, Richmond was reported as being the capital's new coronavirus hotspot.
Yet Richmond Council claimed at least a quarter of the reported cases were students testing positive in other parts of the country such as Manchester, Leeds, Exeter and Durham.
It argued that the rise in cases was down to students testing positive who have moved from their London home, but still have a home address in the capital.
Of 212 cases recorded in Richmond since September 20, 49 were in other towns and cities, the Evening Standard reports.
The vast majority of these people were aged 17 to 21, suggesting they were students originally from London whose cases were recorded using their home address.
'TRIGGER POINT'
It comes after Sadiq Khan piled pressure on Boris Johnson to put London on a Tier 2 lockdown order, banning households from mixing indoors, if cases jump over 100 per 100,000.
The capital was only given a "medium" Covid alert level on Monday, when Mr Johnson unveiled his new three tiered approach to local lockdowns.
The tightened measures would mean nearly nine million Londoners would not be able to meet up with friends and family outside of their household anywhere indoors – including in pubs and restaurants.
Mr Khan told Sky News yesterday: "Across our city… the average over the last seven days is about 90 per 100,000.
"All the indicators I have, hospital admissions, ICU occupancy, the numbers of older people with cases, the prevalence of the disease, the positivity are all going the wrong direction.
"Which means, I'm afraid, it's inevitable over the course of the next few days London will have passed a trigger point to be in the second tier."
Reports suggest that 100 cases per 100,000 people is considered one of the thresholds for an area being moved into Tier 2.
But ministers are bound to consider a number of factors in the decision, including the speed oat which infections are rising, hospitalisations and deaths.
Data shows hospitalisations for Covid-19 in London have not risen much over the past month, despite the rise in cases.
Almost 5,000 infected patients were being treated by NHS doctors back in April — but the figure currently stands at around 300.
Today, coronavirus cases in Britain hit their second highest ever rise with another 19,724 infected by the deadly bug.
A further 137 people died in the last 24 hours – bringing the UK's overall covid-19 death toll to 43,155.
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