London Covid-19 prevalence plummets as vaccination picks up pace
The percentage of Londoners testing positive for coronavirus has continued its downward trend in the past week, as the nation’s largest ever vaccination programme continues at pace.
The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) latest infection survey estimated that the proportion of people in the capital testing positive for coronavirus fell to 0.3 per cent last week — down from 0.3 per cent in the seven days to 2 March.
It means the capital sits alongside the South West and East of England as having the lowest coronavirus prevalence rates in England.
An estimated one in 340 people in England had coronavirus last week, marking a significant drop since the week before, when one in 270 were thought to have been infected.
Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East and the East Midlands have the highest prevalence rates in England, with 0.4 per cent of people in each region estimated to have had Covid-19 last week.
Cases have continued to fall across the country except in the East Midlands, which showed early signs of a slight increase in cases, according to the ONS.
The figures will come as a major boost to the Prime Minister, who has insisted the government will prioritise “data not dates” in plans to lift lockdown restrictions.
Boris Johnson said there was “no credible route to a zero-Covid Britain or indeed a zero-Covid world,” but that the roadmap would provide a “cautious but irreversible” timeline for easing current lockdown measures.
Separate data released this week showed the level of antibodies across the country hit fresh heights this week as the nation’s largest ever vaccination programme begins to bear fruit.
One in three people in England are estimated to have coronavirus antibodies either from past infection or vaccination, according to the latest ONS figures.
It marks a dramatic increase from about one in 10 at the start of December. At the last count in early March, one in four people in England were thought to have Covid antibodies.
London currently has the second-highest level of antibodies of any region in England, with around 36 per cent of people in the capital thought to have some level of protection against Covid.
More than 25m people across the UK have now received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, including all top four priority groups.
The rapid rollout has helped push down coronavirus cases in London, which have plummeted from a daily peak of 19,872 on 29 December to just 535 yesterday — around eight per cent of the UK total.
During the peak of the third wave of coronavirus, the capital made up around a third of all infections in Britain.
The PM yesterday reaffirmed his confidence that the government will meet its target to offer a first dose of the vaccine to all adults in the UK by 31 July despite hiccups in vaccine supplies.
Supply issues at one of Astrazeneca’s manufacturing plants in India will lead to a multimillion-dose shortfall over the coming months, the health secretary confirmed yesterday.
Matt Hancock told the Commons: “In April, supply is tighter than this month and we have a huge number of second doses to deliver…. In the last week, we’ve had a batch of 1.7m doses delayed because of the need to retest its stability.
“Events like this are to be expected in a manufacturing endeavour of this complexity and this shows the rigour of our safety checks.”
A letter sent out by the NHS on Wednesday warned that vaccination centres will face a “significant reduction” in vaccine supplies for at least the next four weeks as a result of delays at the plant in India.
Vaccination centres have been told not to book any new appointments for April, though people who have already booked their vaccine slots will still be able to proceed with appointments.