The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has declared a major incident in London after a “huge surge” of Omicron cases across the capital.
He said he has the decision following discussions with leaders from NHS London, local authorities and other essential services in the capital.
Mr Khan said in a statement: “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.
“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.”
There have been 26,418 cases reported the past 24 hours, the highest number since the pandemic began last year.
