West London News
London coronavirus: Latest update for Kingston
The decline in the number of cases is beginning to slow, worrying health chiefs
Sian BayleyLocal Democracy Reporter
20:09, 5 FEB 2021
Updated 23:01, 5 FEB 2021
Ambulances queued at a London hospital (Image: Yui Mok/PA Wire)
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The rate of decline for coronavirus cases in Kingston is beginning to slow, the borough's public health director has warned.
Iona Lidington told this week's Health and Overview Panel (February 3) that although lockdown measures are beginning to make a difference, the current case rate is still very high.
She told the committee: "The steepness of the slope downwards is beginning to tail off for Kingston. That's a worry from a public health perspective because it means that we still have high numbers of cases in the borough and the likelihood of onward spread again if the lockdown measures aren't maintained, and if people don't follow the stay at home advice."
She said that the rest of South West London was beginning to drop below Kingston's rate, including neighbouring Richmond and Wandsworth.
Even though the London average is still higher than Kingston's, its downward trajectory is a lot steeper than it is in Kingston.
Ms Lidington warned that people aren't sufficiently following the stay at home and 'hands, face, space' advice.
In a message to residents, she said: "Stick with the advice, hold with the course, because we need to get that rate as low as we possibly can so when the lockdown restrictions are lifted we won't see a rapid shooting back up of numbers as we get increased cases again."
Since the beginning of the pandemic last March, 263 residents have died having tested positive for the virus.
The deadliest weeks were between April 13 and 19 in 2020 and between January 18 and 24 this year.
In both weeks, 24 residents died.
Although the case rate has fallen in recent weeks to just over 300 cases per 100,000 people, Ms Lidington warned that this was "still very high" and would have been considered "extraordinary" in September last year.
If you have a story or information for us from this part of London, please email sian.bayley@reachplc.com