No pattern for Covid rise in Hammersmith and Fulham

By Owen Sheppard, Local Democracy Reporter

Health officials at Hammersmith and Fulham council say there was “no pattern” behind an acceleration in local coronavirus cases that took place earlier this month.

The west London borough had one of the highest rates of new cases, compared to all of London’s 31 boroughs, between August 9 and 15.

During those six days, Hammersmith and Fulham’s infection rate hit 16 per 100,000 people.

As of Monday, August 24, the borough had a total infection rate of 472.1 per 100,000 people. The actual total number of confirmed cases in the borough so far was 874, out of a residential population of about 186,000.

Other London boroughs with far larger populations have fared much worse since the pandemic began. To the north, the borough of Brent has a running total of 1,877 confirmed cases, equal to 569 per 100,000 people.

Kensington and Chelsea – the most affluent borough in London but also the smallest – has had 639 cases so far, equal to 409.3 cases per 100,000.