Patients arrive by ambulance at the Royal London Hospital on 5 January 2021 in London, England. The British Prime Minister delivered a national television speech on Monday evening announcing that England would enter its third blockade of the covid-19 pandemic. This week, the UK has registered more than 50,000 new confirmed cases of Covid for the seventh day in a row.
Dan Kitwood | Getty Images News | Getty Images
LONDON – London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Friday declared a major incident due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus in the UK capital.
He had previously warned that the virus was “out of control” and the National Health Service “was about to be overwhelmed.”
“I have declared a major incident in London because the threat this virus poses to our city is at a time of crisis,” Khan said via Twitter.
“One in 30 Londoners now has COVID-19. If we do not take immediate action now, our NHS could be overwhelmed and more people will die,” he added.
The announcement comes shortly after weekly data up to 2 January found that London’s coronavirus infection rate had risen to 1,038 per 100,000 inhabitants. This figure compares to a citywide infection rate of 818 per 100,000 for the previous week.
In comparison, the national infection rate stood at 612 per 100,000 for the week ending January 2.
The increase in pressure on the city’s already tense health facilities coincides with the resurgence of the spread of Covid-19, as the UK struggles to contain a highly infectious variant of the virus.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the third national blockade for England in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus. The measures went into effect on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the UK recorded 52,618 new cases of coronavirus, according to official data, and 1,162 deaths within 28 days of testing positive for the virus.
Earlier, major incidents have been reported following the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 and the terrorist attacks on Westminster Bridge in March 2017 and London Bridge in November 2019.