The mayor of London has declared a major incident over the “hugely concerning” surge in Covid cases and rising hospitalisations in the capital.
Sadiq Khan said that in the last 24 hour period London had seen the largest recorded number of new cases since the pandemic began, with 26,418 infections.
Over the past seven days there have been 65,525 new confirmed cases while the mayor’s office said the number of Covid patients in hospitals had increased by 29 per cent.
He previously declared a major incident on 8 January due to rapid spread of Covid-19 — days after Boris Johnson imposed England third lockdown.
It means there will be closer co-ordination between key public services in responding to the situation and reduce disruption amid staff absences in frontline roles.
A major incident in the capital is defined as “beyond the scope of business-as-usual operations, and is likely to involve serious harm, damage, disruption or risk to human life or welfare, essential services, the environment or national security”.
It comes as cabinet ministers received a briefing on Sunday detailing the latest data amid concerns over the rapid spread of the Omicron variant across the country and calls from some experts for more stringent restrictions.
Leaked papers from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) suggested hospitalisations could peak at 3,000, warning that “more stringent measures would need to be implemented very soon” to reduce numbers.
Speaking on Saturday, Mr Khan said: “The surge in cases of the Omicron variant across our capital is hugely concerning, so we are once again declaring a major incident because of the threat of COVID-19 to our city.”
The London mayor added: “The Omicron variant has quickly become dominant with cases increasing rapidly and the number of patients in our hospitals with COVID-19 on the rise again.
“We are already feeling the impact across the capital and while we are still learning about this variant, it’s right that London’s key agencies work closely together to minimise the impact on our city, including helping to protect the vital vaccination programme.
“We know that the vaccine offer our best defence against the virus. There are now more clinics in London delivering vaccines than at any point during the pandemic. I urge all Londoners to book their appointment or to go to one of the many walk-in centres across the capital as soon as you can.”
Georgia Gould, chair of London Councils, added: “The rapid spread of Omicron across our city is of huge concern.
“Local councils have stepped up and played a vital role in supporting their communities through the pandemic, I know they will continue with these efforts but we cannot do this alone.”
