Covid-19 case rates rise in south east London

The latest coronavirus figures show a steady rise in cases across south east London as local NHS trusts warn that emergency departments are now "extremely busy".

Every borough has seen a rise in case rates for the second week running, with one borough now reporting more than 100 cases per 100,000 people.

This comes as the Indian variant continues to spread, and Lewisham and Greenwich Trust has warned that A&E departments at University Hospital Lewisham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital are "extremely busy at the moment."

Tuesday's figures from Public Health England show the Covid-19 case rates for the for the seven days to June 18, and are based on the number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 in either a lab-reported or rapid lateral flow test, by specimen date.

The infection rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people in the last week.

And the highest rate in south east London is currently in Southwark which has a rate of 117.3.

This is up from 90.3 the week prior after 374 new virus cases were recording in the last seven days.

Lewisham currently has a Covid-19 rate of 74.2, up from 63.8 after 227 new cases were reported.

Bromley's Covid-19 rate has also risen from 50.9 to 63.8 this week, with 212 new cases reported.

Greenwich is close behind with an infection rate of 63.6, up from 57.7, with 183 new cases.

Bexley currently has the lowest Covid-19 rate in the region with 49.5, although this is still up from 37.1 after 123 new cases.

Positively, the rise in cases continues to be small, but local health leaders will be monitoring the rise closely in the lead up to July 19 when the Government says it will end lockdown restrictions.

Nearby, Croydon has a rate of 68.5, slightly down from 73.7, Dartford has reported 59.5 and Lambeth currently has one of the highest in the capital with 137.4.

Of the 315 local areas in England, 269 (85%) have seen a rise in rates, 42 (13%) have seen a fall and four are unchanged.

Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire continues to have the highest rate, with 776 new cases in the seven days to June 18 - the equivalent of 518.4 cases per 100,000 people.

The list has been calculated by the PA news agency based on Public Health England data published on June 22 on the Government's coronavirus dashboard.