Richmond Council has found that 70 of its recent confirmed Covid-19 cases are young people who were tested away from London – as far away as Durham.

Cllr Gareth Roberts, council leader, has now called for an urgent review of the accuracy of the data.

There have been 421 positive test results in Richmond upon Thames since September 20.

As part of the council's review of the data, to identify any trends or linkages, it has found:

• 40 per cent (117 tests) are missing the location of where the individual was tested
• of these, 70 were tested far away from London – including places such as Leeds, Exeter, Manchester and Durham

The data also shows that these individuals are aged 17-21 years old.

The revelation comes on the same day that Richmond was confirmed as having the highest infection rate in London.

Cllr Roberts said: "This is the latest 'Testing Shambles of the Week' and the government needs to get a grip.

"This is not just a Richmond issue, it's not even just a London issue.

"This is a national issue. Before any further restrictions are put in place the data needs to be cleansed and correct.

"Some of our positive cases seem to be students who may have acquired the infection in other parts of the country.

"So why are they being attributed to Richmond?

"People need to have the confidence in the data, if they don't then how can we expect people to follow the rules.

"Come on Mr Hancock – we know your government struggle with algorithms – but get a grip!"

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