Thousands of children will be tested for coronavirus in schools across London, Kent and Essex, in a bid to stem rising infection rates which have put the capital on course for tier 3 restrictions next week.
Public Health England (PHE) officials have urged the government to move London, with its population of 9 million, to the strictest measures when the tiers are reassessed on 16 December, unless the data shifts significantly.
In a briefing with ministers on Thursday evening, London MPs were told to expect the worst, as the most recent weekly surveillance survey by PHE revealed that the capital now had the highest rate of coronavirus infections in England.
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. The Treasury has reportedly previously warned ministers that putting London into tier 3 would cost 550,000 jobs.
Leading the Downing Street daily briefing, the health secretary, Matt Hancock said he was “particularly concerned” about the number of cases in London, Kent and Essex, and that test data showed that cases were rising fastest among secondary school children, aged 11 to 18. The rate among adults in London was “broadly flat”, but the rise in young people was likely to be replicated in other age groups and required immediate targeted action, he said.
The mass testing will be carried out in the seven worst affected boroughs of London, in parts of Essex that border London and parts of Kent. “I want to urge all those involved to step forward for the testing,” said Hancock. “It is important that 11-18 years-olds get tested in these boroughs, irrespective of whether they have symptoms.”
Commenting on the new mass testing of secondary school pupils, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, questioned why schools in England were remaining open.
“The government is yet to explain why during this emergency testing period public health is best served by schools remaining fully open,” he said. “A very short-term period of home learning while test results are obtained would ensure further transmission does not occur in schools among the most affected group.”
The announcement in England came as Wales’s education minister announced that secondary schools and colleges in Wales would move to online learning from Monday in a “national effort to reduce transmission of coronavirus”.
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, welcomed plans for mass testing in the south-east but said the move in Wales was a “much more robust response to an increasingly worrying situation”.
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.
All regions of England recorded week-on-week falls in infections, except for eastern England, where the rate rose from 116.2 to 147.2, and the south-east, where it increased from 142.2 to 160.8.
Following months with some of the highest case numbers, infection rates have fallen across much of northern England, where many areas are 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. 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 city 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 to PHE figures, up from 158.1 per 100,00 in the previous week.
England’s chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty said that a third wave was “not inevitable” but warned that the country was moving into a “very risky period”.
“Christmas is a period when we can do things, that’s the reason why the rules have been relaxed. That doesn’t mean we should do things,” he told the briefing.
Hancock said that tens of thousands of people had received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine this week in 73 locations, and this would be extended to a further 10 sites next week with vaccinations beginning in GP surgeries and care homes by Christmas. But he warned that the fight was not over, adding: “So don’t blow it now.”
The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, repeated the warnings, tweeting: “We can’t lower our guard now – we’ve worked too hard for too long to let this virus endanger the people we love.”
PHE figures showed that Greater Manchester – where local leaders fought for increased support following months of restrictions – had 160.1 cases per 100,000 people as of 4 December, compared with 194.1 on 27 November.
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 government over the next couple of days,” he said.
Meanwhile NHS test and trace launched its “business plan” – expected to be in place by March – which would see regular coronavirus testing in workplaces, pubs and theatres. This will be combined with serial testing – where people are sent a box of lateral flow tests to take each day for a week – to help cut the isolation period from 14 days to seven for contacts, and mass community testing in tier 3 areas.
More than 62,000 people in Britain have died as a result of coronavirus, the highest death toll in Europe.
