Sadiq Khan says 1 in 20 Londoners have Covid in parts of capital as hospitals like ‘theatre of war’

Sadiq Khan has likened London’s hospitals to “theatres of war” as he warned that as many as one in 20 people have coronavirus in the capital’s infection hospots. 

The mayor’s grim assessment came after he declared a “major incident” across the city as the spread of Covid-19 threatens to overwhelm NHS services.

A “major incident” means the “severity of the consequences” associated with it are “likely to constrain or complicate the ability of responders to resource and manage the incident”.

Mr Khan told Sky News on Friday: “We’re at risk of NHS hospitals running out of beds in the next couple of weeks if the virus continues to spread and people continue to be hospitalised.

“You’ll be aware that across the country on average one of 50 people have this virus. In London, on average, it’s one out of 30.

“In parts of London it’s one out of 20.”

City Hall earlier said that Covid cases had exceeded 1,000 per 100,000 people in London, while there are 35 per cent more virus patients in hospital than at the peak of the pandemic’s first wave.

Mr Khan said NHS staff were "stressed, strained, heroic", adding: "Many of them are traumatised".

"I have been told it's like being in a theatre of war,” he stressed. “And that's why it's so important that we understand...the easiest way you can help those emergency staff is by staying at home."

He added that police officers would begin to drive ambulances “over the course of the next few days” to help handle the increase in 999 calls to London Ambulance Service, joining firefighters who had been helping already.

The Metropolitan Police said the “major incident” alert was a “stark reminder of the critical point we are at in the battle against coronavirus”.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist, who leads Scotland Yard’s response to the Covid pandemic, said in a statment: “Now more than ever is the moment for people to stick to the rules, and stay at home.

“There can be no doubt that right now we find ourselves at a serious and dangerous crossroads for London; everyone must look at this news and understand that our health service is nearing breaking point.

Coronavirus: London Goes Into Tier 3 - In pictures

1/14

He continued: “I know Londoners will be shocked that officers are still dealing with a small selfish minority who think the rules don’t apply to them by holding house parties, large warehouse raves or other gatherings. These are creating breeding grounds for the much more transmissible variant.

“These rule breakers cannot continue to feign ignorance of the risk that this virus poses or listen to the false information and lies that some promote downplaying the dangers.

“Every time the virus spreads it increases the risk of someone needlessly losing their life.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in