Matt Hancock urges Londoners to ‘stick to the rules’ as Covid cases rise

Matt Hancock issued an urgent appeal to Londoners today to “stick by the rules” after shock figures showed Covid-19 cases rising in 21 boroughs increasing the risk of Tier 3 for the city before Christmas. The Health Secretary also stressed that more people in the capital will end up in hospital and die because of the disease’s spread. He spoke out after alarming data showed confirmed cases jumping by 46.7 in Haringey in the week to December 2, with many boroughs in east London also being particularly badly hit. Worryingly, much of the rise happened before lockdown ended last Wednesday. The coronavirus surge is all the more striking as just over a week earlier cases were falling in 30 out of 32 boroughs.