London should be put under tier 3 Covid rules after infections rocket, PHE warns

London should be placed under the strictest restrictions after 16 December unless there is significant change is what the Covid data shows, Public Health England (PHE) officials are advising the government.

In a briefing with ministers on Thursday evening London MPs were told to expect the worst, with health officials keen to put London under tier 3 when the tiers are reassessed on 16 December.

The most recent weekly surveillance survey by PHE revealed that London now had the highest rate of coronavirus infections in England, while cases had plateaued in the rest of the country.

A number of Conservative MPs are expected to lobby ministers to keep the capital in tier 2, given that mortality rates remain relatively low and the London NHS is managing admissions reasonably well. “Public Health England wanted this to happen two weeks ago and are adamant now, but a lot of people will want to see harder evidence,” one MP said.

Another MP described the data as “awful” and said they believed a change was inevitable. “We are heading to tier 3 for sure,” the MP said.

On Thursday the UK recorded 20,964 more coronavirus cases, up 4,386 on the previous day – the highest daily rise since mid-November. Another 516 deaths were reported in 24 hours, slightly down on the 533 deaths confirmed the day before.

The rate of infection has fallen in central and north-east England, areas that have been placed in tier 3. The West Midlands had the steepest fall in cases, dropping to 158.4 per 100,000 people, down from 196.8 the previous week.

In eastern England the rate rose from 116.2 to 147.2, and in the south-east it increased from 142.2 to 160.8. All other regions of England recorded week-on-week falls. South-west England had the lowest rate at 77.3, down from 91.2.

Three-quarters of the capital’s boroughs (24 of 32) recorded an increase in coronavirus cases in the week to 4 December, , and the capital had the highest average infection rate in the country, at 191.8 per 100,000 people for the week of 30 November to 6 December, according PHE figures, up from 158.1 per 100,00 in the previous week.

The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, tweeted: “We can’t lower our guard now – we’ve worked too hard for too long to let this virus endanger the people we love. With Christmas just around the corner, we must all focus on following the rules.”

Sir Richard Leese, the leader of Manchester city council, told a press conference that coronavirus rates in his city continued to fall and it was seeing a significant decline in critical care bed occupancy.

Greater Manchester had 160.1 cases per 100,000 people as of 4 December , compared with 194.1 on 27 November.

“We’re not saying that hospitals are out of the woods, but certainly the pressure they saw three weeks ago is most definitely not in the system any more,” he said.

The Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, said it was clear that the region had a case to move into tier 2. “We will be making that case to governments over the next couple of days,” he said.

More than 62,000 people in Britain have died as a result of coronavirus, the highest death toll in Europe.