Eight cases of coronavirus in one area of Westminster last week

By Julia Gregory, Local Democracy Reporter

Eight cases of coronavirus were diagnosed last week in one area in north Westminster.

Meanwhile the latest predictions from Imperial College London suggest Westminster currently has a zero per cent probability of being a hotspot.

Their data is based on figures from the week until Saturday just gone.

The team defines an area as a hotspot if weekly reported cases of coronavirus per 100,000 population exceed 50.

According to the latest maps of cases diagnosed by Friday, September 18, there were eight cases diagnosed in Queen’s Park in the north of the borough in a week.

Overall Westminster has seen 1,095 people diagnosed with the virus since the pandemic began in March.

It comes as England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said it was essential to “break unnecessary links between households” as nationally the number of cases were increasing.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan met London council leaders yesterday to discuss their response to the pandemic.

Six cases were diagnosed in Abbey Road between September 10 and 16, with five recorded in the Paddington and St George’s Fields area, and three in St John’s Wood south.

There were another three recorded in Maida Vale.

At Queen’s Park Gardens there were between zero to two cases, while Strand, St James and Mayfair, and Knighstbridge, Belgravia and Hyde Park all had between nought to two cases.

The same figures were reported in Fitzrovia West and Soho, Pimlico North, Victoria and Millbank.

Marylebone and Park Lane, Church Street and Bryanston and Dorset Square recorded between zero and two cases.

Central Westminster also had between zero and two cases of coronavirus.

And according to government data no one in the borough tested positive for the virus on Friday, September 19, after a week which saw the number of diagnoses fall.

People are asked to self-isolate at home if they test positive for coronavirus. It means they must not leave home even to get food or medicine and should not go out for exercise.

They should not have visitors, including family and friends, and should stay at home for at least 10 days.

They now face fines starting at £1,000 if they breach the self-isolation rules.

And people are reminded to wash their hands regularly, wear a face covering and keep their hands away from their eyes, nose and mouth and should maintain a distance of 2m from others.