New Covid cases rising fast in south east London

In Lewisham, new cases of Covid-19 were up 120 per cent in the week up to May 30, with 88 infections reported, according to Public Health England (PHE) data.

Those figures meant the borough had a 'rolling rate' of infections per 100,000 people of 28.8. The current UK-wide average is 35.

The data arrived as concerns over the spread of the B.1.617.2 'Delta' variant that has now overtaken the 'Kent' strain to become the dominant version of the Covid-19 virus in the UK.

On Saturday (June 5), Dr Adam Kucharski of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said because the Delta variant was so infectious the UK could see a "big number" of people admitted to hospital with severe cases of coronavirus.

Kucharski told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there were a "number of concerning signs" following early evidence that first dose vaccines are not as effective against the so-called Delta variant and that the strain may increase the risk of being hospitalised from coronavirus.

@ProfKevinFenton updates on London's situation.

"We are continuing to see gradual increases in cases across London, including the Delta variant.
Though the number of people being admitted to hospital remains stable, we know more #COVID19 cases can lead to more hospitalisations." pic.twitter.com/MJPsaPF5To

— PHE London region (@PHE_London) June 4, 2021

He added: "I think it is particularly this increase in transmission that is potentially going to cause us considerable problems.

"We are getting estimates now firming up that we are looking at something potentially 40-60% more transmissible than the B.117, the Kent variant that was dominant.

"And that means that infections are going to really come at us quite fast and we are seeing that in the cases now, and we saw that in the ONS data yesterday."

Meanwhile like in Lewisham other south east London boroughs were seeing rises in the number of new Covid cases confirmed in the week up to May 30.

For example in Bromley there were 128 new infections up to May 30, up 47 or 58 per cent on the previous week's data, for a rolling rate of 38.5.

• Read more: Indian Covid variant cases found in every SE London borough

In Greenwich, 104 new Covid cases were confirmed, up 23 (28.4 per cent). The borough's rolling rate stood at 36.1.

And in Bexley there were 54 new cases, up 14 or 35 per cent from the previous week. Bexley's rolling rate was 21.7.

In Southwark, cases increased even more sharply than in Lewisham, with 102 new cases representing an increase of 66 or 183.3 per cent from the previous week's figure. The rolling rate was 32.0.

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