Mayor of London on declaring a major incident
Dear Londoner,
Today I have declared a major incident in London because our situation is now critical – with the spread of the virus out of control.
The number of cases in London has increased rapidly with more than a third more patients being treated in our hospitals now compared to the peak of the pandemic last April.
Our doctors, nurses and NHS staff are doing an amazing job, but with cases rising so rapidly, our hospitals are at risk of being overwhelmed. The stark reality is that we will run out of beds for patients in the next couple of weeks unless the spread of the virus slows down drastically.
The threat this virus poses to our city is 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 you 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.
Stay safe,
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan
