Commuters walk across London Bridge toward the City
(Picture: REUTERS)Covid cases have seen a sharp rise in East and South London – while declining in most of the boroughs in the west of the capital.
The borough of Bromley had the highest infection rate in London as of October 1, with a total of 77.8 cases per 100,000 people.
This was followed by Sutton with 71.7 cases per 100,000 and then Bexley with 67.8 infections per 100,000.
The sharpest rise in cases in the seven days up to October 1 was seen in Enfield, where the infection rate surged by 39.6 per cent. Barking and Dagenham saw the second biggest jump with 37.4 per cent, followed by Sutton (33 per cent) and Redbridge (31.5 per cent).
Infection rates declined in many boroughs of west London. Richmond saw the biggest fall with the case rate per 100,000 decreasing by 14.3 per cent, with Kingston Upon Thames seeing a decline of 7.5 per cent and Ealing 6.3 per cent. Greenwich, in south East London, also saw a fall of 9.7 per cent.
Cases were rising in all but nine boroughs in London, the data showed. It chimes with data from the Office for National Statistics which shows 1.8 per cent of Londoners had tested positive in the week up to September 24 - up from 1.5 per cent the week before.
Many boroughs in London continue to have the lowest rate of vaccination in the UK. In Newham, nearly half (42.9 per cent) of residents have not had a second vaccine dose, followed by Westminster (42.8 per cent) and Kensington and Chelsea (41.6 per cent).
Professor Tim Spector, co-founder of the Covid ZOE app, warned earlier this week that the autumn Covid wave had already begun.
“It looks like we’re in the start of the next wave and this time it’s affected older people slightly earlier than the last wave,” he told the Independent.
Meanwhile, separate figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the number of Covid cases has jumped by 18 per cent in a single week to reach the highest level since mid-August.
This is up from 1.1 million in the previous week and marks the highest total since the seven days up to August 16, at the peak of the wave caused by the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants of the virus.
Figures from NHS England also showed the number of beds occupied by Covid-19 patients in London’s hospitals has risen to its highest figure in six weeks.
A total of 1,228 beds were occupied by people with Covid-19 as of October 5 – a rise of 23 per cent in a week.
Kings College Hospital had the highest number of patients testing positive for the virus in London, with 198 beds occupied in total as of October 5. This was followed by the Royal Free London NHS Trust with 139 patients and then Barts Health NHS Trust with 118.
Across England, a total of 9,631 people with Covid-19 were in hospital – a jump of 37 per cent on the week before.
However, the figures remain far below those reached during previous waves of the pandemic. The highest number of beds occupied by Covid-19 patients in the capital so far this year was 4,047, recorded on January 5 at the peak of the omicron wave.
The full details for London infections in the week up to October 1 are as follows:
* Croydon: 26 new cases, 53.5 cases per 100,000 people, a rise of 14.3%
* Newham: 47 new cases, 26.7 cases per 100,000, a fall of 33.1%
* Southwark: 19 new cases, 52.2 cases per 100,000, a rise of 12.8%
* Camden: 7 new cases, 42.2 cases per 100,000, a rise of 6.3%
* Lewisham: 8 new cases, 41.3 cases per 100,000, a fall of 6%,
* Hackney: 3 new cases, 38 cases per 100,000, a rise of 2.8%
* Greenwich: 14 less cases, 45 cases per 100,000, a fall of 9.7%
* Islington: 28 new cases, 48 cases per 100,000, a rise of 30.8%
* Barking: 22 new cases, 37.4 per 100,000, a rise of 37.9%
* Lambeth: 31 new cases, 47.2 per 100,000, a rise of 25.6%
* Redbridge: 29 new cases, 39.6 per 100,000, a rise of 31.5%
* Sutton: 37 new cases, 71.7 cases per 100,000, a rise of 33%
* Waltham Forest: 4 new cases, 48 cases per 100,000, a rise of 11.8%
* Bromley: 259 new cases, 77.8 cases per 100,000, a rise of 22.7%
* Hammersmith: 18 new cases, 48.5 cases per 100,000, a rise of 25.4%
* Tower Hamlets: 16 new cases, 42.2 cases per 100,000, a rise of 12.9%
* Bexley: 32 new cases, 67.8 cases per 100,000, a rise of 23.4%
* Westminster: 21 new cases, 36.7 cases per 100,000, a rise of 26.9%
* Havering: 5 new cases. 67.1 cases per 100,000, a rise of 2.9%
* Enfield: 44 new cases, 46.5 cases per 100,000, a rise of 39.6%
* Barnet: 22 new cases, 51.1 per 100,000, a rise of 12.1%
* Harrow: 23 new cases, 57.5 per 100,000, a rise of 18.9%
* Haringey: 26 new cases, 42 per 100,000, a rise of 30.2%
* Merton: 4 new cases, 57.2 cases per 100,000, a rise of 3.5%
* Ealing: 12 less cases, 52.3 cases per 100,000, a fall of 6.3%
* Kingston: 8 less cases, 54.7 cases per 100,000, a fall of 7.5%
* Kensington: 1 less case, 29.3 cases per 100,000, a fall of 2.1%
* Brent: 5 new cases, 48.5 cases per 100,000, a rise of 3.2%
* Wandsworth: 29 new cases, 49.1 cases per 100,000, a fall of 21.8%
* Hounslow: 3 less cases, 46 cases per 100,000, fall of 2.3%
* Hillingdon: 29 new cases, 69.3 cases per 100,000, a rise of 15.7%
* Richmond: 18 less cases, 54.5 cases per 100,000, a fall of 14.3%
