LONDON (Reuters) – London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a “major incident” on Saturday to help hospitals in the capital deal with the spike in Covid-19 cases caused by the Ômicron variant of the coronavirus.
Khan took the measure, which allows for closer coordination between different public agencies, after the UK on Friday reported the biggest increase in new cases in 24 hours since the start of the pandemic.
Admissions and the absence of health workers are on the rise, Khan said, “so I made the decision, in consultation with our partners, to declare a major incident status.”
“It’s a statement of how serious things are,” he said.
Khan of the opposition Labor Party also declared a major incident in January when rising Covid-19 cases threatened to overwhelm hospitals.
The Ômicron variant is estimated to represent over 80% of new Covid-19 cases in London.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to head an emergency committee meeting over the weekend with the administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which have their own powers over public health.
Sky News said government ministers were being briefed on the latest coronavirus data on Saturday.
The Times reported that authorities were preparing to draft new rules that, if introduced, would ban people from indoor gatherings in England, except for work, for two weeks after Christmas, when pubs and restaurants would be restricted to open air services. open.
People will be able to gather in groups of up to six people in open spaces, the newspaper said.
But ministers have yet to formally consider the plans, The Times said.
A government spokesman, asked about the Times report, said the government will continue to “look closely at all the data that is coming out and will keep the measures under review as we learn more about this variant.”
Johnson said on Friday that “we’re not closing things down.”
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