Sadiq Khan has said he believes new restrictions are “inevitable” — less than 24 hours after he declared a major incident in the capital due to surging cases of Covid.
The London mayor said the city had recorded almost 30,000 cases in one day and warned the NHS could “collapse” if measures are brought in too late.
But he also demanded a “major, major package” of financial support for the hospitality industry if the UK government decides news restrictions are needed.
“If we don’t bring in new restrictions sooner rather than later, you’re going to see even more positive cases, and potentially public services like the NHS on the verge of collapse, if not collapsing,” he said.
While he suggested the public should be able to celebrate Christmas safely, Mr Khan added: “I think sooner rather than later we’re going to look at social distancing, we’re going to have to look at household mixing.
“Because if we don’t, the number of cases is only going one way and the issue isn’t the seriousness of the consequences, not just that, it’s also the numbers of people who have the virus.”
The decision to impose any restrictions in England ultimately lies with Boris Johnson, who presented his cabinet with the latest data on the spread of the Omicron variant on Saturday. A further Cobra meeting with the devolved nations is expected today.
Speaking on Sky News, the health secretary Sajid Javid said ministers are discussing the latest coronavirus data almost hourly with scientific advisers, and said the Government will “do what is necessary” when asked about possible further measures.
“We’ve shown in the past as government in dealing with this pandemic that we will do what is necessary but it’s got to be backed up by the data.”
He added: “We are watching the data and discussing it with our scientists and our best advisors almost on an hourly basis. And we will monitor that very carefully. We will keep the situation under review.”
He said various factors including vaccinations, antiviral medication and other treatments for Covid-19 mean “the situation today in terms of our defences is very different”.
Mr Khan’s intervention on Sunday comes after government scientists warned tougher restrictions were needed before the new year to prevent “considerable pressure” on the NHS amid concern over the Omicron variant.
Documents released on Saturday by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) – revealing the bleak advice given to ministers – emerged the government’s official dashboard recorded 90,418 cases of Covid in the UK in the last 24 hours.
But the minutes published from a Sage meeting on Thursday stressed that “it is almost certain that there are now hundreds of thousands of new Omicron infections per day” – with the highest rates in London – suggesting that the official figures do not reflect the full picture.
The scientists warned that the doubling time of Omicron infections in England was currently around two days – “faster than the growth rate seen in March 2020”.
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