‘Inferno(s) of Covid’ - How people reacted to cases soaring in Clapham

In recent weeks, South London has been hailed the Covid hotspot after the capital secured all the top ten places around the entire country for the highest number of cases.

Clapham North, Tooting Bec Common, Putney Town and Wandsworth Park and Clapham South are all at the outbreak’s centre.

Outside London, the next worst-hit area is Nottingham,

UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) statistics show almost 3 per cent of people living in Lambeth tested positive for the virus in the week ending December 23.

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More specifically, cases have soared through Clapham – and now locals are calling it the ‘Inferno’ variant on social media, thanks to the infamous London nightclub.

The number of Covid patients in London hospitals has increased by almost 50 per cent in a week. NHS chiefs have warned that intergenerational mixing over Christmas could lead to even further admissions in the coming weeks.

“Over the last couple of days, we’ve had lots of younger people mixing with older adults, and we clearly need to see what impact that’s going to have,” Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, told Times Radio on Monday.

“The numbers are rising,” he said, adding that they are “nowhere near as big as they were in the January peak”.

“So we’re about 30 per cent of the peak, but overall a really important point to remember is the NHS generally is very busy,” he added.

“I think it’s really important to look at the whole picture rather than just look at the Covid caseload. We’ve got a busy urgent and emergency care pathway ... We know we’ve got those care backlogs from people whose planned care we can’t delay any longer.

“You will have seen we’ve been working flat-out on the booster vaccination campaigns over Christmas. We’re also having to cope with staff absences. As Omicron infection rates increase in the community, then obviously we’ll have more staff off.”

Staff have already been deployed around hospitals to “fill the gaps” amid the Omricron spread.

For the seven days up to December 23, London cases are as follows:

Lambeth – 9,248 cases, up 1,209 (15 per cent) on the previous seven-day period. Case rate per 100,000 of 2,873.7

Wandsworth – 8,858 cases, up 2,686.4 (11.8 per cent on the previous seven-day period). Case rate per 100,000 of 2,686.4.

Southwark - 8,386 cases, up 1,665 (24.8 per cent). Case rate per 100,000 of 2,620.5

Croydon - 8,381 cases, up 3,265 (63.8 per cent). Case rate per 100,000 of 2,156.9

Lewisham - 7,727 cases, up 2,329 (43.1 per cent). Case rate per 100,000 of 2,530.9

Hackney and City of London - 6,861 cases, up 624 (10 per cent). Case rate per 100,000 of 2,350.6

Tower Hamlets - 6,726 cases, up 969 (16.8 per cent). Case rate per 100,000 of 2,026.1

Bromley - 7,061 cases, up 2,319 (48.9 per cent). Case rate per 100,000 of 2,122.0

Greenwich - 6,460 cases, up 1,993 (44.6 per cent). Case rate per 100,000 of 2,235.0

Barnet - 6,506 cases, up 2,393 (58.2 per cent). Case rate per 100,000 of 1,630.5