Sat 18 December 2021:
In London, a “major incident” has been declared due to “huge concern” about the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant throughout the city.
It comes after London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Saturday that staff absences in vital public services such as the NHS, fire service, and police were “incredibly worried.”
According to the mayor’s office, declaring a major incident will allow authorities to collaborate and support one another in order to minimize service disruption and provide more time for booster shots.
“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,” Khan said.
“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.”
Khan urged people to get their booster shots and insisted that it is “never too late” to get a vaccine if you haven’t had even your first dose.
Omicron is now the most widespread coronavirus variant in London, according to figures released on Saturday by the UK Health Security Agency, which showed that 83.4 percent of detectable cases in the capital between December 15 and 16 had S gene target failure (SGTF), a test for detecting the presence of Omicron.
According to government figures released on Friday, the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in London, which has seen some of the largest increases in cases in the last seven days, has risen to 1,534, up 28.6 percent from last week.
According to British health authorities, the number of Omicron cases in the UK has increased dramatically to nearly 25,000, with seven deaths reported so far.
Meanwhile, after days of record highs, 90,418 daily COVID cases were reported across the UK on Saturday.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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