Official: Richmond has highest rate of coronavirus in London

Update: New testing fiasco as students in Manchester add to Richmond's coronavirus totals

Richmond now has the highest rate of Covid-19 in London.

Our borough recorded 112.1 new cases per 100,000 people in the week to October 5.

Cases have shot up to 222 from 89 in the previous week.

But public experts in the borough can't seem to spot any particular reasons behind the spread.

Speaking to Vanessa Feltz on BBC Radio London this morning council leader Gareth Roberts said: "Unfortunately there seems to be no pattern, no rhyme or reason to it at all, we're looking at the data trying to establish if there are patterns, but unfortunately at the moment we have not been able to see any."

However, he did say university students who have moved away from the borough might have their test results show up as belonging to Richmond.

He told BBC Radio London: "The one thing which has been suggested and we're now looking at that, is that perhaps it's students who have moved away from the borough, gone to university, they are catching the virus, they are getting tested, but ... it's still within the borough, the tests are coming back and are being shown as one of our tests.

"It's by no means the entirety, but it may explain some of the cases."

How restrictions could work

When asked about a London-wide lockdown, he said further restrictions should apply to all boroughs, despite differing levels of infection.

"We're all aware of what we need to have is clarity of message in terms of how we are explaining the virus and the spread of the virus to people.

"If we're going to have a different rule for Kingston than we have for Hounslow than we have for Havering that we have for Hackney then that is a recipe for confusion. And the one thing that we don't need is more confusion," he said.

"The problem is, if you have businesses which are being kept open as usual, say for example, Richmond and Kingston were to have different set-ups, different rules and regulations, then if all of the pubs and restaurants and bars in Kingston were to remain open, but the ones in Richmond were to remain closed, everybody from Richmond would just pop over to Kingston for a jolly night out, have a good time and then come home, possibly spreading more of the virus over in Kingston, and then Kingston would go into lockdown."

A fluid situation

He explained that while some boroughs such as Sutton have a comparatively low level of infection, Richmond was in the same position just a few weeks ago.

"It isn't that you have a constant that when you reach a certain level you stay at that level, it's a fluid situation," he said.

"That's why it's all the more important that it's a single set of rules and restrictions, hopefully as short a term as we can possibly make it, but one rule for all of London and then we can understand what the rules are. Not having this patchwork approach which would just lead to confusion and chaos."

He confirmed that no major concerns had yet been raised over hospitalisations in the borough, but there has been a small rise in admissions across London.

In a video to residents on Twitter yesterday (October 8) he also confirmed there have been "a few cases" in the borough's schools, but confirmed there had been no care home outbreaks.

Chance of lockdown

Earlier this week, mayor of London Sadiq Khan said a local lockdown is unlikely to be introduced in the capital this week, despite rising infection rates in nearly all boroughs.

The capital has been on the government's watch list for almost two weeks now but no extra measures have been introduced.

It is understood that London will move as one, and will not place measures on individual boroughs.

Other London blackspots

Speaking at the London Assembly on Wednesday (October 7) Mr Khan said Redbridge, Newham and Tower Hamlets were particular areas of concern in the capital, and also warned of escalating rates in the South West in Richmond.

However, he said areas like Bexley, Bromley and Sutton were faring better and that levels in the capital "aren't near" those in other parts of the country.

In Nottingham, for instance, there are now more than 689 cases per 100,000 people.