Dominic Cummings has claimed lockdown should have arrived weeks before people were officially told to stay at home.

In a session of the House of Commons' health and science and technology select committees – which remains ongoing – former adviser Dominic Cummings made a number of assertions about the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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He said: “I think it is clear that we obviously should have locked down essentially the first week of March at the latest.”

East London Advertiser: Dominic Cummings said that the UK should have locked down in the first week of March 'at the latest'.Dominic Cummings said that the UK should have locked down in the first week of March 'at the latest'. (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

The Advertiser has data on the number of cases recorded in Tower Hamlets every seven days since March 1 last year.

The numbers show that in the week up until that date, there were 119 positive coronavirus cases recorded in the borough.

In the seven days prior to March 23 - when lockdown was officially announced - 105 people were recorded as having caught the virus.

The chart below shows how these numbers unfolded until the end of April 2020.