London’s local government leader today admitted he is “massively worried” about an influx of students to the capital pushing up Covid-19 levels and increasing the risk of new restrictions.
Peter John, chair of umbrella group London Councils, said infection rates in some areas were already at 30 cases per 100,000 and in one borough, 40.
Asked by Times Radio if he was anxious about students flooding back, he said: “Yeah, massively worried. We are seeing in London at the moment infection rate doubling every fortnight.
"It is only going in one direction and only going to speed up and we are going to see an influx of half a million students into the city and that is bound to have an impact.”
Mr John, the leader of Southwark council, said the Government had not told councils how a local lockdown or other restrictions might be imposed.
“What will trigger those steps I’m not sure because I don’t think the Government is sure,” he said.
With a new curfew being announced for the North-East, putting curbs on two million people, health minister Edward Argar said socialising by people at homes and in the “night-time economy” was behind a surge of cases in the region.
Mr Argar admitted there was a “bottleneck” in testing caused by not enough laboratory capacity, but said the Government was “ramping up” testing.
The minister said a quarter of people applying for tests did not have symptoms. A set of priorities for rationing tests will be issued shortly.
Government sources denied a report that the chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty is pushing for a two-week national lockdown.
Mr Argar played down the reports but did not deny them outright during a round of interviews, telling Sky: “It is not something I have seen within the department.”
He said: “The Prime Minister has been very clear on this. He doesn’t want to see another national lockdown. He wants to see people abiding by the regulations and making local lockdowns work.”
Extra cash to help care homes prepare for the winter was announced by Health Secretary Matt Hancock today.
Some half a billion pounds will cover the wages of staff forced to isolate and avoid having agency staff work across several homes.