Sadiq Khan warns coronavirus is spreading 'quickly and widely' in London
6 October 2020, 10:53 | Updated: 6 October 2020, 11:23
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned that coronavirus is spreading "quickly and widely" in the capital, urging people to follow the rules.
Mr Khan posted online: "Coronavirus is spreading quickly & widely across London, with the number of people hospitalised for the disease tripling in the past month.
"We can slow the spread of this virus if we don't take risks. Follow the rules: wear a face mask, wash your hands & stick to the rule of six."
Coronavirus is spreading quickly & widely across London, with the number of people hospitalised for the disease tripling in the past month. We can slow the spread of this virus if we don't take risks. Follow the rules: wear a face mask, wash your hands & stick to the rule of six. pic.twitter.com/clR2Sn8KoW
— Mayor of London (gov.uk/coronavirus) (@MayorofLondon) October 6, 2020
London was identified as an area of concern on September 25 when there were just over 600 new cases a day and the number of cases has now reportedly risen to 1,000 per day.
In September, all of London's boroughs were made areas of "concern"
Mr Khan said last month: “London is at a very worrying tipping point right now."We’re seeing a sharp rise in 111 calls, hospital admissions, and patients in ICU.
“The near collapse of test and trace and the resurgence of the virus means new measures to slow its spread were absolutely necessary."
He said the capital's addition to the red list as an "area of concern" was because testing capacity had been diverted to other hotspots.
Figures released today show the number of weekly deaths involving coronavirus in England and Wales has risen by more than half in seven days.
There were 215 deaths registered in the week ending September 25 mentioning "novel coronavirus" - 2.2% of all deaths in England and Wales, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
It was the third weekly rise in a row and represents a 54.6% increase in deaths involving Covid-19 from the previous week, when 139 deaths were registered.
The number of deaths involving coronavirus increased in eight of nine regions in England, and in Wales.
The exception was the East Midlands, where the weekly total fell from 14 to 11.
Just two areas - London and the East - had lower overall deaths than the average over five years for this time of year.
This story is being updated
