- ‘Big incident’ has been declared in London as the city’s hospitals are overwhelmed by Covid patients
- London Mayor Sadiq Khan has made the decision, saying the pandemic is ‘out of control’ in the British capital.
- This follows a leaked briefing by the National Health Service revealing that hospitals in London are just two weeks from breaking point.
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The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has declared a “major incident” in the UK capital as the city’s hospitals are on the verge of being overwhelmed with Covid.
According to Khan, the number of coronavirus patients in the city’s hospital has increased by almost a third in just the past week, with total hospitalizations now more than a third higher than the peak of the first wave of the pandemic last spring.
Major incidents are defined by City Hall as an event with a series of serious consequences that require special arrangements to be implemented by one or more emergency agencies. ‘
They were earlier declared in London in response to the Westminster Bridge and London Bridge terrorist attacks and the Grenfell fire.
Khan’s decision follows a leaked briefing from the national health service that revealed on Thursday that hospitals in the capital were just two weeks from breaking point.
“The situation in London is now critical with the spread of the virus out of control,” Khan said.
“We declare a major incident because the threat this virus poses to our city is a crisis point. If we do not act immediately now, our NHS could be overwhelmed and more people would die.”
Local government leaders in the city have urged Londoners to stay home.
“Things are growing at a dangerous pace in London and putting the NHS under extreme pressure,” Georgia Council chairwoman Georgia Gould said in a statement.
“One in every 30 Londoners now has Covid. That’s why public services across London are urging all Londoners to please stay at home, except for absolutely essential shopping and exercise.”
The mayor has written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking for a package of additional financial support for Londoners who need to isolate themselves, as well as a new ban on people attending places of worship and new laws to force masks to regularly go outside the home .