Coronavirus: 'Major incident' declared in London by Sadiq Khan
The spread of Covid in London is "out of control" according to Sadiq Khan, who has declared a "major incident".
It comes as the coronavirus infection rate in London has exceeded 1,000 per 100,000 people.
Major incidents have previously been called for the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 and the terror attacks at Westminster Bridge and London Bridge.
Currently, there are more than 7,000 people in hospital with Covid-19, the mayor said.
A major incident is defined as an event or situation with a range of serious consequences which requires special arrangements to be implemented by one or more emergency responder agency.
London's announcement comes after the counties of Sussex and Surrey declared similar major incidents on Thursday.
This is a 35% increase compared to the previous peak of the pandemic, Mr Khan added.
He said the London Ambulance Service was currently taking up to 8,000 emergency calls a day, compared to 5,500 on a typical busy day.
It comes after the London Fire Brigade said more than 100 firefighters had been drafted in to drive ambulances to help cope with the demand.
Mr Khan warned that London was "at crisis point".
"If we do not take immediate action now, our NHS could be overwhelmed and more people will die.
"Londoners continue to make huge sacrifices and I am today imploring them to please stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary for you to leave. Stay at home to protect yourself, your family, friends and other Londoners and to protect our NHS."
Mr Khan has written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking for more financial support for Londoners who need to self-isolate and unable to work, and for daily vaccination data.
He is also asking for the closure of places of worship and for face masks to be worn routinely outside of the home, including in crowded places and supermarket queues
Georgia Gould, chair of London Councils, described London's rising coronavirus rate as "dangerous".
She added: "One in 30 Londoners now has Covid. This is why public services across London are urging all Londoners to please stay at home except for absolutely essential shopping and exercise.
"This is a dark and difficult time for our city but there is light at end of the tunnel with the vaccine rollout. We are asking Londoners to come together one last time to stop the spread - lives really do depend on it."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-london-55588163?__twitter_impression=true
