New Covid-19 cases in Southwark dropped again this week, mirroring a trend seen across every London borough, after a sharp rise last week.
New infections fell some 67 per cent in the borough, from 6,772 in the week to February 1, to 2238 in the week from February 2 to February 8.
There were similar drops in new cases across south-east London and the capital as a whole over the week. New cases in Lambeth fell by 71 per cent to 2,191. In Lewisham new infections dropped by 69 per cent to 1,972. Greenwich recorded a 71 per cent drop in new cases to 1,786. Bexley saw new infections fall to 1,437, a drop of 74 per cent. In Bromley cases fell 65 per cent to 2,538 across the week.
New admissions at Guy’s and St Thomas’ continued to drop, with 36 people going into the hospitals with Covid from January 24-January 30, the latest figures available – a fall of about 43 per cent.
Meanwhile seven people died in Southwark within four weeks of a positive Covid test, the same figure as last week.
It comes as a new study was released suggesting that the Tube is not a “super-spreader” of Covid – as long as people wear masks and keep to social distancing guidelines.
The study, led by academics at the University of Leeds, was done before the rise of the more easily transmissible Omicron variant of Covid, but still claimed to show that the risk of travelling on public transport should be “quite low”.
The government dropped the legal requirement to wear a mask on the Tube on January 19, but London mayor Sadiq Khan asked passengers to keep wearing them for their own safety.
Professor Cath Noakes, who led the study, said: “Wearing a face covering can significantly reduce the risk of the virus spreading, particularly as?it can be harder to socially distance in?a Tube or subway carriage at certain times of the day.
“Even though there may be a small chance of transmission by touching a contaminated surface, this can be managed through regular hand hygiene and avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth.?”