LONDON (Reuters) – London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a major incident in the British capital on Friday, saying the city’s hospitals are at risk of overcrowding if people don’t stay at home.
Khan warned that the number of hospital beds will end in the coming weeks, unless urgent measures are taken to drastically prevent the spread of the disease.
“The situation in London is now critical, with the spread of the virus out of control,” said Khan. “One in 30 Londoners now has COVID-19. If we don’t take immediate action now, our NHS (National Health Service) may be overwhelmed and more people will die. “
The number of COVID-19 cases in London is now over 1,000 per 100,000 people, and between December 30 and January 6, the total number of hospital patients in the capital increased by 27%. In the past three days, there were 477 deaths of patients who tested positive for the virus.
The number of people hospitalized is 35% higher than during the pandemic peak in April, and there are fears that hospitalizations will continue to increase.
“We are declaring a major incident because the threat this virus poses to our city is in crisis,” said Khan. “Londoners continue to make enormous sacrifices and today I am begging you to stay at home, unless it is absolutely necessary for you to leave.”
A major incident is defined as being “beyond the scope of normal business operations and is likely to involve serious harm, damage, disruption or risk to human life or well-being, essential services, the environment or national security”.
The last major incident in London was declared after the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, when 72 people died in Britain’s worst fire in a residential building since World War II.
Reporting by Michael Holden; Kate Holton edition