There were no new coronavirus infections recorded in London in a 24 hour period. On Monday there were no new infections in the capital, compared to 19 the day before. The data, which was released by Public Health England, may be misleading however. A glitch in the Covid-19 patient notification system occurred temporarily on Saturday, 16 May. The rate of coronavirus infections in the capital has been falling however. On 15 May there were just 24 new confirmed cases in London, far fewer than the 200,000 a day when the lockdown was announced. Scientists believe that the number of infections in the capital is halving every 3.5 days, meaning it could be wiped out in a matter of weeks. In London, 5,806 people have died of coronavirus in hospital after testing positive, according to the PHE figures published on Monday. The situation in the capital is now significantly better than in other parts of the country, where the rate of infection is still high. In the North East, which is now the region with the highest number of daily cases being recorded, 4,000 new infections are logged every 24 hours. While the falling infection numbers in London are heartening, the capital nor the country are by any means out of the woods. The Government's top advisory group has warned that the rate of coronavirus infection is rising and could be close to one. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said the UK reproduction number for the coronavirus is now between 0.7 and one, having risen from 0.5 and 0.9 two weeks ago. If the reproduction number (R) is higher than one, then the rate of infection will rise across the UK. If it is lower than one, then the outbreak will shrink. The research was carried out by six research groups and suggested that cases in care homes and hospitals accounted for a greater proportion of cases than last week. It comes as wide variations in the 'R' rate between regions have emerged, with it as low as 0.4 in London, but as high as 0.8 in other areas. And the planned reopening schools at the start of June, which is concerning unions, is dependent on the 'R' rate being under control. Source
