Covid cases have plunged in London boroughs by up to 54 per cent in a week, official figures have revealed as calls grew for the working from home guidance to be ditched as quickly as possible.
Confirmed infections were down in all boroughs by at least a quarter in the seven days to January 12, compared to the previous week.
Hospital admissions of coronavirus patients also dropped, raising hopes that defeating the Omicron surge is now firmly underway.
The official figures showed:
- The biggest drop in cases was in Havering, down 54.3 per cent to 2,383 in the week to January 12.
- Twelve boroughs saw falls of more than 40 per cent in a week including Bexley (49.3 per cent), Bromley (48.1 per cent), Sutton (47.5 per cent), Barking and Dagenham (46.6 per cent), and Croydon (45 per cent).
- A further 15 boroughs saw declines of at least 30 per cent.
- The smallest drop was in Westminster of 25.1 per cent.
- For London as a whole, the seven-day infection rate was 1039.9 confirmed cases per 100,000 people, down 38.6 per cent on the previous week.
- For Londoners aged 60 and over, the rate fell from 1,327.9 on January 2 to 609.1 on the 12th, and for those aged 59 and under it went down from 1,885 to 1,125.5.
- A further 9,775 confirmed cases were announced for the city yesterday, the second day in a row that the daily total has been below 10,000 since December 12.
London’s public health chief Professor Kevin Fenton told the Standard: “It is very encouraging to see that London’s Covid-19 cases are now on a firm downwards trajectory.”
The infection numbers may be affected by changes to the testing regime, with people without symptoms who test positive on lateral flow tests no longer having to take a confirmatory PCR.
However, Prof Fenton added that decreasing hospitalisations, an R rate of the disease’s growth below one, and prevalence data are “a solid indication that the virus is in retreat”.
But he also stressed: “Although we are heading in the right direction, our numbers are still very high overall, and it is important that we stick with the effective public health measures including wearing face coverings and working from home, to ensure we see the back of it.”
As cases drop, calls are growing for the Government to ditch or scale back Plan B, including working from home, by a January 26 review point or earlier.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “There’s no question that our city needs workers back in the office to help support our economic recovery and make our city buzz and thrive once again.
“Thousands of jobs and businesses depend on people being back at their desks because the reduced footfall at the moment, both day and night, is having a devastating knock-on effect on our retail, hospitality and cultural sectors, which have already been hit so hard during the pandemic.
“The Government must follow the science and end the work from home guidance as soon as it’s safe to do so.”
Cabinet ministers have signalled that the WFH advice will go on January 26, however, some MPs have been pressing for it to be jettisoned more quickly.
The official figures also showed the number of patients with Covid admitted to London’s hospitals dropped to 253 on Saturday, the lowest since December 19.
The number of patients with coronavirus in the city’s hospitals was 3,537 on Monday, compared to 4,074 on January 5, with 219 so ill that they are on ventilators.
Around one in three Covid patients was admitted to hospital primarily for another health reason.
The Covid jabs roll-out has been key to limiting the number of severe cases of the disease.
So far, 6,350,841 first doses have been administered in London, 5,779,116 second innoculations, and 3,898,319 boosters or third doses for individuals vulnerable to the virus.
The detailed figures for London show:
- Havering saw 2383 cases in the seven days to January 12, down 2,836 (-54.3%) on the previous week, with a seven-day rate of 914.2 confirmed infections per 100,000.
- Bexley 2307 cases, down 2,242 (-49.3%) rate 925.4
- Bromley 2941 cases, down 2,726 (-48.1%) rate 883.8
- Sutton 2075 cases, down 1,878 (-47.5%) rate 999
- Barking and Dagenham 2186 cases, down 1,909 (-46.6%) rate 1,021
- Croydon 3805 cases, down 3,116 (-45%) rate 979.2
- Greenwich 2712 cases, down 2,192 (-44.7%) rate 938.3
- Enfield 3039 cases, down 2,459 (-44.7%) rate 911
- Waltham Forest 2650 cases, down 2,081 (-44%) rate 956.9
- Southwark 3052 cases, down 2,203 (-41.9%) rate 953.7
- Lambeth 3200 cases, down 2,295 (-41.8%) rate 994.4
- Lewisham 2819 cases, down 1,991 (-41.4%) rate 923.3
- Redbridge 3319 cases, down 2,241 (-40.3%) rate 1,085.9
- Kingston 1694 cases, down 1,116 (-39.7%) rate 945.6
- Newham 3730 cases, down 2,327 (-38.4%) rate 1,049.9
- Merton 2312 cases, down 1,430 (-38.2%) rate 1,119.9
- Wandsworth 3393 cases, down 2,093 (-38.2%) rate 1,029
- Hackney and City of London 2824 cases, down 1,669 (-37.1%) rate 967.5
- Islington 2274 cases, down 1,326 (-36.8%) rate 916.5
- Haringey 2711 cases, down 1,530 (-36.1%) rate 1,017.8
- Richmond 1910 cases, down 1,050 (-35.5%) rate 964
- Harrow 3067 cases, down 1,570 (-33.9%) rate 1,215.4
- Tower Hamlets 3559 cases, down 1,819 (-33.8%) rate 1,072.1
- Barnet 4393 cases, down 2,114 (-32.5%) rate 1,101
- Hillingdon 3888 cases, down 1,871 (-32.5%) rate 1,258.2
- Hounslow 3736 cases, down 1,722 (-31.6%) rate 1,374.7
- Hammersmith and Fulham 2115 cases, down 973 (-31.5%) rate 1,152.3
- Brent 4163 cases, down 1,871 (-31%) rate 1,270.2
- Camden 2337 cases, down 981 (-29.6%) rate 836.1
- Kensington and Chelsea 1676 cases, down 595 (-26.2%) rate 1,068.4
- Ealing 4777 cases, down 1,691 (-26.1%) rate 1,403.6
- Westminster 2570 cases, down 862 (-25.1%) rate 952.4
