London coronavirus cases are being considered carefully and a decision about which tier London will enter at the end of lockdown will be revealed tomorrow. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced more than half the country will be put into tougher tiers post-lockdown than before lockdown was announced. Express.co.uk explores which tier London will likely go into after lockdown ends.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed his blueprint for the UK’s response to the coronavirus pandemic this week.
Mr Johnson announced England would leave lockdown on December 2.
In addition, the following changes were announced:
All non-essential retail will be allowed to open in a bid to boost Christmas shopping, especially on the high street
Gyms will be permitted to open to avoid people gaining weight in the run-up to Christmas
The 10pm curfew for pubs and restaurants will be scrapped
A mass testing programme will be launched in tier 3 areas.
READ MORE: Andy Burnham rages at London being put first in coronavirus pandemic
Since the outbreak began, there have been 149,270 coronavirus cases in London.
This equates to a rate of 1,665.6 per 100,000 people.
In the last seven days, London has reported 16,799 cases in total, which equates to a rate of 187.4 per 100,000 population.
Across England, the current seven-day rate to November 24 is 230.3 per 100,000 people.
The rate of coronavirus is falling across London with 18 boroughs seeing a decline in cases according to official figures.
But despite this, ministers have thus far rejected calls for a borough-by-borough tier level system which MPs are advocating given the wide variations across the capital.
The following boroughs have reported a decline in new cases in the week to November 19 compared to the week before:
- Wandsworth: 445 new cases down 159 (26.3 percent) on the previous week – seven-day rate of 135 per 100,000
- Camden: 281 cases down 85 (23.2 percent) on the previous week – seven-day rate of 104.1 per 100,000
- Islington: 337 new cases, down 88 (W20.7 percent) with a seven-day rate of 139;
- Westminster: 332 new cases, down 78 (19 percent) with a seven-day rate of 127;
- Richmond: 220 new cases, down 40 (15.4 percent) with a rate of 111.1;
- Waltham Forest: 537 new cases, down 97 (15.3 percent) with a rate of 193.9;
- Sutton: 320 new cases, down 48 (13 percent) with a rate of 155.1;
- Barnet: 665 new cases, down 92 (12.2 percent) with a rate of 168;
- Lambeth: 464 new cases, down 67 (12.6 percent) with a rate of 142.3.
- Kensington & Chelsea: 204 new cases, down 27 (11.7 percent) with a rate of 130.7;
- Kingston: 298 new cases, down 37 (11 percent) with a rate of 167.9;
- Southwark: 350 new cases, down 39 (10 percent) with a rate of 109.8;
- Ealing: 772 new cases, down 85 (9.9 percent) with a rate of 225.9;
- Hillingdon: 640 new cases, down 69 (9.7 percent) with a rate of 208.6;
- Tower Hamlets: 785 new cases, down 61 (7.2 percent) with a rate of 241.7;
- Hammersmith and Fulham: 339 new cases, down 24 (6.6 percent), with a rate of 183.1;
- Bexley: 637 new cases, down 39 (5.8 percent) with a rate of 256.6,
- Haringey: 377 new cases, down 18 (4.6 percent) with a rate of 140.3.
DON’T MISS
Boris Johnson’s confession of ‘dirty trick’ used on BBC show [INSIGHT]
London at risk! Mayor Khan admits COVID-19 poses ‘existential threat’ [VIDEO]
What tier was London in before lockdown? Will London go into tier 3? [EXPLAINER]
London was in Tier 2 before the second national lockdown was imposed.
Tier 2 areas are those of high risk and the following rules are put in force:
- No household mixing indoors permitted
- Rule of six applies outdoors
- Pubs and restaurants must shut at 11pm
- Alcohol can only be served as part of a substantial meal
- Spectators in limited numbers are allowed at sports events and live performances.
- Personal care including hairdressing is permitted.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “London going into Tier 2 next week would seem the right and sensible decision”.
He added closing “London’s unique ecosystem of bars, restaurants, clubs and cultural venues” throughout Christmas would be “a hammer blow”.
Felicity Buchan, the Tory MP for Kensington, told Matt Hancock in the Commons that London needs to avoid going in tier 3.
She said: “London is the engine of this country’s economy and my central London constituency is suffering hard”.
Ms Buchan added that as of November 20 “London has a substantially lower case rate than the English average, coming in at 75 points lower, and my constituency was 125 points lower”.
