London has seen a drop in the number of recorded coronavirus cases over the past few days, after figures released on Friday showed the capital currently has the lowest R rate in the country.
A further 1,054 cases in the past 24 hours takes the total number of positive tests in London since the start of the pandemic to 685,848.
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The Department for Health and Social Care last week launched surge testing in Lambeth to tackle new cases of the South Africa Covid variant, following the rollout of the scheme in three areas in London earlier this month.
However, infections continue to fall across the capital, with some boroughs seeing the number of new cases halve in as little as eight days.
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Figures released on Friday showed London’s R rate has dropped to a best estimate of 0.6 to 0.8 — the lowest in the country — suggesting infections are heading for a significant decline over the next few weeks.
The figure means infections may be falling anywhere between two and seven per cent each day.
However, separate figures released last week showed the percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus in London remains the highest of any English region.
Data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed around 1 in 63 Londoners were infected with the virus last week.
That compares to an estimated 1 in 80 people who contracted the virus in England as a whole in the week to 6 February, according to ONS figures.
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London coronavirus cases by borough (in alphabetical order)
Data sourced from Public Health England, accurate as of 4pm on Wednesday 17 February
| Boroughs | Rate of infection per 100,000 people in last 7 days | Total confirmed cases since start of pandemic | |
| Barking and Dagenham | 231 | 22,563 | |
| Barnet | 179 | 29,040 | |
| Bexley | 160 | 21,524 | |
| Brent | 247 | 27,026 | |
| Bromley | 139 | 23,557 | |
| Camden | 100 | 13,444 | |
| Croydon | 194 | 29,657 | |
| Ealing | 295 | 29,077 | |
| Enfield | 169 | 28,884 | |
| Greenwich | 171 | 21,460 | |
| Hackney and City of London | 116 | 20,930 | |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 205 | 12,273 | |
| Haringey | 139 | 20,069 | |
| Harrow | 219 | 19,482 | |
| Havering | 190 | 26,065 | |
| Hillingdon | 276 | 24,657 | |
| Hounslow | 292 | 23,197 | |
| Islington | 119 | 14,397 | |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 139 | 8,497 | |
| Kingston upon Thames | 189 | 11,572 | |
| Lambeth | 186 | 23,260 | |
| Lewisham | 157 | 20,988 | |
| Merton | 223 | 15,386 | |
| Newham | 216 | 33,067 | |
| Redbridge | 190 | 31,534 | |
| Richmond upon Thames | 167 | 10,220 | |
| Southwark | 140 | 21,678 | |
| Sutton | 206 | 15,206 | |
| Tower Hamlets | 113 | 27,777 | |
| Waltham Forest | 168 | 24,011 | |
| Wandsworth | 164 | 20,990 | |
| Westminster | 119 | 13,360 |
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