London coronavirus cases fall in every borough as infections drop by almost a third since January 1

Evening Standard

London coronavirus cases fall in every borough as infections drop by almost a third since January 1

Evening Standard 18/01/2021 10:24:57 Joe Murphy

Coronavirus cases are falling in every London borough for the first time in months - confirming that the devastating second wave of the pandemic has finally passed its peak.

Falls of up to 30 per cent have been seen in some areas over the past week, with no borough recording an increase. London-wide, the number of confirmed infections has tumbled by almost a third since January 1.

However, the crisis in the capital's hard-pressed NHS is still getting worse, the official data shows.

The number of Londoners filling up hospitals continues to break records, including for the number of critically ill people being kept alive by ventilation machines. Daily admissions are falling at last, but fewer deaths and slow recovery times means wards are getting more crowded.

Key developments in the city's fight against the pandemic include:

- Only three London boroughs currently have infection rates of over 1,000 new cases per 100,000 population, down from 17 boroughs last week.

- Barking & Dagenham, which has the highest infection rate for its size, had a fall of 27 per cent, recording 2,537 new cases last week, which was 945 fewer than the week before. Next highest Newham had a fall of 22 per cent, with 3,972 new cases, down by 1,100 in a week.

- The number of Covid patients in London hospitals has risen nine per cent in a week. There were 7,686 on January 13, the most recent date for which data is complete, up from 7,034 a week earlier. The figure is, shockingly, almost 50 per cent higher that at the peak of the first wave last April.

- The number of critically-ill patients in mechanical ventilation beds is still surging. There were 1,206 on Saturday, up from 1,020 a week before, a jump of 18 per cent. The number of people who have been intubated in London is risen higher than the 1,046 recorded at the peak of the first wave, on April 13 last year. Fewer are dying than did in the first wave, thanks to improved treatments.

- London's daily death toll from Covid-19 is rising but less quickly than it did from mid-December to early January. An additional 1,116 deaths in London hospitals of patients who tested positive plus an additional 66 where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate were announced yesterday for the week ending January 16. That compared with 1,028 and 75 for the previous week.

- New admissions peaked in London on January 5 at 913 and were down to 795 on the most recent data. However, these still exceed the number being released because patients who might have died in the first wave are being slowly nursed back to health instead.

The biggest falls in new cases were seen at Havering, down 40 per cent, Bromley, down 37, Redbridge, down 35, and Bexley, down 35.

On the UK-wide map, London stands out from other regions as clearly passing the peak of new infections. But many regions are still surging as the highly contagious Kent strain of the virus spreads from the south, including the East Midlands, the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber.

Here is the latest borough data released by Public Health England, showing the number of new cases in the most recent week, the percentage change in new cases and the rate of new infections over seven days per 100,000 population.

Barking and Dagenham: 2537 new cases (-27.1%); rate 1,191.6

Barnet: 3082 cases (-21.6%); rate 778.5

Bexley: 2032 cases (-34.8%); rate 818.4

Brent: 3279 cases (-7.8%); rate 994.3

Bromley: 2143 cases (-37.1%); rate 644.8

Camden: 1461 cases (-21.1%); rate 541.1

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