(Add details)
London, January 8 (Reuters) – London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a major incident in the British capital on Friday, saying hospitals in the city were in danger of being overwhelmed if people did not stay at home.
Khan warned that the number of hospital beds would run out in the next few weeks, unless urgent action is taken to stop the spread of the disease drastically.
“The situation in London is now critical with the spread of the virus out of control,” Khan said. “One in 30 Londoners now has COVID-19. If we do not act immediately, our NHS (National Health Service) could be overwhelmed and more people would die.”
The number of COVID-19 cases in London is now more than 1,000 per 100,000 people, and between 30 December and 6 January, the total number of hospital patients in the capital increased by 27%. In the last three days, there were 477 deaths of patients who tested positive for the virus.
The number of people in hospital is 35% higher than during the peak of the pandemic in April, and there are concerns that admissions will increase.
“We declare a major incident because the threat this virus poses to our city is a crisis point,” Khan said. “Londoners are still making great sacrifices and I urge them today to please stay at home unless it is absolutely essential that you leave.”
A major incident is defined as ‘outside the scope of ordinary activities, and is likely to cause serious harm, injury, disruption or danger to human life or welfare, essential services, the environment or national security’.
The last major incident in London was declared after the fire in Grenfell Tower in 2017 when 72 people died in Britain’s worst fire in a residential building since World War II. (Reported by Michael Holden; edited by Kate Holton)
Our standards: the principles of the Thomson Reuters Trust.