Coronavirus cases are spiking sharply in London, as in much of the rest of the UK.
Scientific and medical advisers Sir Patrick Vallance and Professor Chris Whitty have warned that the country could be seeing as many as 50,000 cases per day by mid October if infections continue to rise at the current rate.
London mayor Sadiq Khan is said to be alarmed about the current rise in cases in the capital – which could be approaching the rate of northern Covid hotspots – and he is meeting with the heads of London councils to discuss the situation.
Here we look at what Mr Khan has said about the state of the coronavirus outbreak in London.
"Better to move sooner than later"
Mr Khan is set to meet the heads of London's 32 councils and the City of London corporation on Monday to discuss lockdown restriction measures for the capital.
The rate of cases in the capital is reported to have increased in a seven-day period ending early last week, from 18.8 per 100,000 people to around 25, with Mayoral sources saying it is catching up to those in Covid hotspots in the north-west and north-east of England.
A spokesperson for Mr Khan said: “The situation is clearly worsening. Sadiq will meet council leaders and any London-specific measures will be recommended to ministers following that.
“The mayor wants fast action as we cannot risk a delay, as happened in March. It is better for both health and business to move too early than too late.”
Mr Khan has urged ministers to extend the latest regional restrictions – including ordering bars and restaurants to close at 10pm – to cover the capital as well.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has also admitted the introduction of new lockdown restrictions in London within days cannot be ruled out.
It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce tougher restrictions on Tuesday in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, after Sir Patrick and Prof Whitty warned that new daily cases could hit 50,000 by mid-October.
Are London boroughs seeing a rise in infections?
No – or at least not confirmed infections.
In fact, 28 of 33 boroughs saw their rate of confirmed infections drop in the week to September 17, the most recent Public Health England figures available.
Cases halved in Wandsworth, from 105 in the week ending September 10 to 51 on September 17, while Lambeth went down from 97 to 50.
If these numbers accurately reflect actual case numbers in London this would suggest that the new rule limiting gatherings to six people might be working.
But it is unclear if confirmed case numbers have gone down because of the widely-reported recent testing shortages, which would mean real infection rates were much higher, and could be spreading unnoticed through the population.
And infection rates in 14 boroughs are now above the Government's threshold for imposing quarantine restrictions on holidaymakers returning to the UK from abroad – with 20 per 100,000 considered high risk.
Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham, and Havering have all reported infection rates of more than 30 per 100,000.