Affluent borough becomes London’s Covid hotspot

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ichmond upon Thames has London’s highest Covid infection rate, according to NHS figures released on Thursday.

The leafy south-west London borough has seen a surge in infections in the past fortnight – despite being among the capital’s most vaccinated areas.

In the seven days up to November 27, the borough’s infection rate stood at 655.1 per 100,000 people. It marks an increase of 16 per cent on the week before.

The borough of Sutton is not far behind, with a case rate of 529.6 per 100,000 – a sharp rise of 28 per cent.

Kingston upon Thames has London’s third highest infection rate with 507.4 cases per 100,000. This marks an increase of 17 per cent in a week.

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Wandsworth, with 492.2 infections per 100,000, is in fourth place while nearby Merton, with 478.1, completes the top five.

However, London’s inner-city districts have some of the lowest infection rates in the country – despite consistently being the epicentre of the virus during the three previous waves.

Newham has a case rate of 240.7 infections per 100,000, while Westminster’s stands at 269.4

Camden and Tower Hamlets both have infection rates of 269.8 and 279.2 cases per 100,000 respectively.

This is despite multiple boroughs in London having some of the lowest vaccination coverage in the UK.

Just 45.2 per cent of residents aged 12 and over in Beckton Park, a ward in Newham, have been double-jabbed, compared to 75.3 per cent in Twickenham North, which lies in the borough of Richmond.

The capital continues to lag behind other areas of the UK on vaccination. Just over 60.8 per cent of Londoners are fully jabbed, compared to 80.6 per cent in Devon and 82.4 per cent in East Yorkshire.

High levels of vaccination help to suppress transmission of the virus.

A study led by Dutch researchers at the country’s Center for Infectious Disease Control, published in October, found that vaccinated people infected with the delta variant are 63 per cent less likely to infect people who are not jabbed.

Meanwhile, Covid cases have risen nationally with the country recording over 50,00 cases last Friday. Daily fatalities remain relatively high but lower than a month ago, with the seven-day average standing at 122 as of November 28 – a decrease on 146 on November 14.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/covid-south-west-london-infection-rate-richmond-kingston-sutton-b969685.html

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