A major incident has been declared in London as the COVID crisis threatens hospitals in the British capital.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the situation was now critical amid the growing number of patients admitted with COVID-19. Khan made the emergency statement to expedite national aid for the National Health Service (NHS), which he said was on the verge of getting out of bed.
“I have declared a major incident in London because the threat this virus poses to our city is a crisis point,” he tweeted. “One in every 30 Londoners now has COVID-19. If we do not act immediately, our NHS could be overwhelmed and more people would die.”
The mayor said the virus was ‘out of control’ in the capital, and ordered Londoners to abide by the rules and not mix indoors over the weekend. The number of patients in London hospitals grew by 27 per cent between December 5 and January 6, from 5,524 to 7,034, according to the latest data.
In the week to January 6, the number of people on mechanical fans increased by 42 percent, from 640 to 908.
The NHS has announced 477 deaths in hospitals in London in the past three days alone after a positive test for COVID-19. The London ambulance service said it now takes up to 8,000 emergency calls a day, compared to 5,500 on a typical busy day.
The head of the NHS England, Sir Simon Stevens, said at a press conference in Downing Street that there is a “substantial risk” that London hospitals could be overwhelmed in the next 21 days.
Khan believes this could happen sooner. In a statement, he said: ‘Our heroic doctors, nurses and NHS staff are doing an amazing job, but with cases increasing so rapidly, our hospitals are in danger of being overwhelmed.
“The stark reality is that the beds for patients will run out in the next few weeks, unless the spread of the virus slows down drastically.”
Getty / Dan Kitwood
One of England’s largest hospital trusts, Bart’s NHS Trust – which manages five hospitals across the city of London and East London – had 830 Covid-19 patients on 5 January, compared to a first wave peak of 606.
The total number of people who died after testing positive for the virus in London is now 9,123.
Meanwhile, official figures show that the estimated ‘R’ number in the UK has risen to between 1.0-1.4, up from 1.1-1.3 previously.
The COVID R number – or the reproduction number – indicates how fast COVID-19 is spreading.
This means that they transmit it to other 10-14 people every 10 people with COVID-19, which means that the virus continues to grow.
Major incidents were earlier declared during London terror attacks and the fire in Grenfell Tower in June 2017. This allows special arrangements to be applied by one or more emergency weather agencies.