London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced the introduction of an emergency regime in the city in connection with the threat of overcrowding in hospitals amid the spread of coronavirus infection and urged residents of the capital to stay at home.

He announced this on his Twitter page. 

“I have announced an emergency in London as the danger this virus poses to the city has reached a critical point.

Now COVID-19 has been diagnosed in every thirty Londoner.

If we do not act immediately, the health care system may not be able to cope with the influx of patients and more people will die, ”he wrote.

According to the mayor, London is experiencing its most dangerous moment during the coronavirus pandemic. 

The mayor's office of the British capital recalled that an emergency regime is declared in the event of a serious threat to human life, national security and the environment.

It also reported that Khan had sent a letter to the Prime Minister with requests from the mayor's office and heads of London borough councils to increase financial support for Londoners who must self-isolate and cannot work.

In addition, the mayor asked the prime minister to provide daily data on vaccinations, as well as to close religious institutions and introduce a mask regime in public places.

According to the mayor's office, between December 30 and January 6, the number of patients in London hospitals increased by 27%, the number of patients on mechanical ventilation increased by 42%.

In the past three days alone, the National Health Service has reported 477 deaths of patients who test positive for COVID-19 in metropolitan hospitals.

The press service of the mayor's office emphasized that the deterioration of the epidemiological situation can be clearly seen in the work of the emergency services of the city - hundreds of employees of the London fire brigade help the ambulance service, voluntarily driving its cars, as it "is going through one of the busiest periods in its history." 

  • AFP

  • © JUSTIN TALLIS

In turn, London doctors said that due to the huge number of patients with COVID-19, hospitals are not able to provide the necessary assistance to people with other diseases.

So, the head nurse at St. George's Hospital in London, Paul Randall, said that the intensive care unit for cardiac patients, designed for 21 beds, has been completely redesigned for coronavirus patients.

Thus, the hospital has doubled the number of beds, but they continue to be insufficient.

So far, doctors have been able to cope with the flow of patients with coronavirus, but to the detriment of the rest of the patients.

“We have people here for 40, 30 and sometimes even 20 years old who are dying from COVID-19.

I even had to cancel operations to remove cancer - there are so many patients with coronavirus in our country, ”said the head physician of the hospital, Dominic Spray. 

The sharp influx of patients with coronavirus infection was confirmed by the hospital nurse Chloe Walker.

“I just finished one of the worst days of my career, very stressful.

I had to look after a lot more patients than usual.

The hospital is now completely overcrowded, ”she admitted.

At the same time, journalist Mathieu Boissot said that the British government is betting on vaccination in the fight against the pandemic.

“It promises to accelerate the campaign even further and has announced a new goal: to vaccinate all health workers and people over 70 by mid-February - a total of 14 million people,” he said.

Recall, on January 4, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the introduction of quarantine in England amid the threat of the spread of a new type of coronavirus. 

"Our scientists have confirmed that the transmission rate of this new version is 50 to 70% higher than the previous one," he said.

The discovery of a new species of SARS-CoV-2 became known on December 14.

Then the head of the British Ministry of Health Matt Hancock said that more than 1,000 people with this type of infection had already been registered in the country.

At the same time, British experts noted that the identified strain, according to available data, is not more lethal and does not lead to more serious consequences.

After the emergence of information about this type of virus, Russia and a number of European countries announced the suspension of flights with Britain.

And the Danish authorities on Friday announced their decision to temporarily restrict entry and exit from the country due to the threat of importation of the "British" variety of the virus.

On January 7, the director of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, Hans Kluge, said that the specified strain had already been found in 22 European countries.

In addition, on January 8, the Romanian media also reported on the detection of the first case of a new coronavirus strain in the country.

According to the British government, the number of deaths of patients with COVID-19 in the last 24 hours has reached 1,325 people, which is a record figure since the beginning of the pandemic.

During this time, more than 68 thousand new cases of coronavirus were detected in the country.