Covid: London is 'going in the wrong direction', warns Independent SAGE member

9 December 2020, 19:29 | Updated: 9 December 2020, 19:30

Covid: Independent SAGE member warns London is 'going in the wrong direction'. Picture: PA/LBC

By Sam Sholli

This is the moment a member of Independent SAGE warned that the Covid numbers for London indicate that it's "going in the wrong direction".

It comes as the latest data shows a worrying increase in new coronavirus cases in the majority of London boroughs.

Christina Pagel, who is also a Professor of Operational Research at University College London and a member of Independent SAGE made the remark to LBC's Eddie Mair.

Her comment comes as Londoners are being told to follow social distancing rules or face a “devastating” surge in cases, with the Health Secretary refusing to rule out forcing the capital to be placed into Tier 3 restrictions.

The latest data shows the number of new coronavirus cases increased in three quarters of London’s boroughs, for the seven days to December 3.

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Asked about the numbers in London, Professor Pagel said: "They're basically telling me that everything is going in the wrong direction."

She added: "So there are a number of different indicators the Government looks at to decide on tiers.

"So there's the overall number of cases [and] the number of cases in people over 60 because those are the people most likely to need hospital care and also more likely to die from Covid.

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"They look at hospital admissions...positivity rates which is a kind of measure of whether there's more Covid or whether you're just testing more people, and then capacity.

"And on almost all of those measures London is going in the wrong direction and it started going in the wrong direction before the end of lockdown."