Covid-19: London may have passed latest peak over New Year
London’s latest wave of the pandemic may have passed its peak over the New Year period, the city’s regional director for public health has said.
His comments follow the UK’s deaths from Covid-19 surpassing 150,000, as the prime minister admits the “terrible toll” the pandemic has had on the country.
“We think we may have passed or are at the peak,” professor Kevin Fenton told Sky News, after reviewing recent data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
“We’re seeing reductions in overall case rates across the city and prevalence of infection within the community.”
Despite falling cases, Fenton urged Londoners to remain cautious, as the booster programme rolls on.
“Remember that infections levels are still very, very high and the ONS figures suggest nearly one in 10 Londoners are still infected with the disease,” he added. “It means that we are not yet out of this critical phase of the pandemic, although we may well be passed the peak.”
It comes as a former chairman of the government’s vaccine taskforce advises the end of mass-vaccinations once the current booster programme has been completed.
Dr Clive Dix, who stepped down from the state body last year, added: “We now need to manage disease, not virus spread. So stopping progression to severe disease in vulnerable groups is the future objective.
“Firstly we should consider when we stop testing and let individuals isolate when they are not well and return to work when they feel ready to do so. In the same way we do in a bad influenza season.”