London could run out of police officers, firefighters and NHS workers to cover shifts because of rapid rise of Omicron Covid cases, warns Sadiq Khan as he declares a ‘major incident’ in capital

• Sadiq Khan declared major incident as he urged people to get their booster jab
• He made decision in light of mounting hospital admissions and staff absences
• London Mayor visited a mass vaccination clinic at Chelsea Football stadium 
• Number of people in hospital with Covid-19 in the capital city has risen to 1,534

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has declared a major incident and warned the capital will run out of police officers, firefighters and NHS workers due to rapidly rising cases of the Omicron variant forcing thousands of front-line workers into isolation.

Mr Khan made the decision in light of mounting Covid cases and hospital admissions in the capital, alongside staff absences going up ‘by massive levels’. 

Governments figures reveal that London accounts for 25,551 – nearly a third – of today’s total of 90,418 Covid cases. 

Mr Khan said: ‘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.’

It means there will be closer co-ordination between key public services in responding to the situation.  

The mayor previously declared a major incident on January 8 due to the rapid spread of Covid-19 and its impact on the NHS, but was able to stand it down on February 26 as case numbers fell. 

Mr Khan also called on people to come forward for their boosters and insisted to those who had not had even a first dose that it is ‘never too late’ to get a jab. 

Omicron is now the dominant coronavirus variant in London, with figures published by the UK Health Security Agency showing that 80.8 per cent of a sample of detectable cases in the capital from December 14 and 15 were found to have S gene target failure (SGTF) – a way of detecting the likely presence of Omicron.

The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 in London, which has seen some of the biggest rises in cases in the last seven days, has risen to 1,534, up 28.6 per cent on last week, according to Government figures on Friday.

A further 341 people with Covid were in hospital in London on December 17, rising from 1,193 on December 10.

By comparison, the rise in hospital admissions across the UK was two per cent on the previous week.

His comments came as business leaders in London reported empty premises last night on the final Friday before Christmas – one of their biggest nights of the year.

Meanwhile, many passengers missed their flights at Manchester Airport due to long security queues. 

Many travellers claimed they faced delays of more than three hours because the airport was understaffed, the Mirror reported.  

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said he is ‘incredibly worried’ that the capital will run out of police officers, firefighters and NHS workers due to rapidly rising cases of the Omicron variant

Governments figures reveal that London accounts for 25,551 – nearly a third – of today’s total of 90,418 Covid cases

He made the comments as he called on people to come forward for their boosters and insisted for those who had not had even a first dose of vaccine that it is ‘never too late’ to get a jab

Mr Khan visited a mass vaccination pop-up clinic at Chelsea Football Club’s Stamford Bridge stadium on Saturday

Covid hospital admissions have spiked by more than a third in a week in Britain’s Omicron hotspot of London, official data shows amid fears NHS wards could be hit just as badly as they were in the second wave.

The ultra-infectious strain already makes up three-quarters of all new cases in the capital, which yesterday posted 23,000 cases — a record high.

Experts have already called for tighter restrictions to be placed on the city to curb the spread of the virus, which is feared to be doubling every one-and-a-half days. But Tory MPs have urged ministers to rely on the wall of defence built by vaccines.

Hospitalisations have already started to shoot up in the capital, offering a glimpse of what Government advisers fear is in store for the rest of the country. While the trend is increasing in the capital, actual admissions remain low. 

Some 199 infected patients were admitted to wards in London on Tuesday, the most recent day UKHSA figures are available for. This was up 34 per cent on the previous week. For comparison, nearly 1,000 a day were being recorded during the darkest days of the second wave in January.

But admissions are expected to go up even further because of the time it takes for infected people to become severely ill. Cases are skyrocketing across the country and are now going up in over-60s in the capital, who are the most vulnerable to Covid.

NHS England statistics shows eight of London’s worst hit hospitals have seen their number of admissions double over the past week. And Croydon Health Services Trust has already seen half its critical care beds taken up by Covid patients.  

Several trusts in the capital are shelving ‘non-urgent’ procedures, such as hip and knee replacements, as they redeployed doctors and nurses to the frontlines to battle staff shortages.

Government figures for vaccination as of Friday show that 67.9 per cent (6.2 million) of Londoners aged 12 and over have had a first dose, 61.5 per cent (5.6 million) have had their second and 28.1 per cent (2.6million) have had a booster or third dose.

Mr Khan told the BBC: ‘The big issue we have is the number of Londoners who have this virus and that’s leading to big issues in relation to staff absences and the ability of our public services to run at the optimum levels.

‘I’m incredibly worried about staff absences in the NHS, in the fire brigade, in the police service, in our councils across London. 

‘That’s why it’s so, so important for everybody who’s eligible to receive the booster, everybody should be getting the vaccines as well.’

Mr Khan, who visited a mass vaccination pop-up clinic at Chelsea Football Club’s Stamford Bridge stadium on Saturday, has said a series of virtual events will take place in the coming weeks which will see health leaders and community representatives work together to encourage more people to get a jab.

The Mayor’s office said the sessions will include representatives from NHS London as well as from black, Muslim, Jewish and eastern European communities ‘to encourage open and positive conversations on the current situation in London and why vaccines are such a crucial part of keeping us all safe’.

Mr Khan added: ‘Over the last week we’ve seen Londoners of all backgrounds and ages lining up outside our pharmacies, hospitals and pop-up vaccination centres which are working around the clock as part of the biggest booster rollout in the country.

‘As cases of the Omicron variant continue to rise, I want to make a direct appeal to the more than one million Londoners who are yet to come forward for any Covid-19 vaccinations – it’s never too late to get your first or second dose. 

‘It will help to protect you, your loved ones and our NHS.’

It follows venues around the capital being left deserted as many Londoners placed themselves under self-imposed isolation amid reports of draft plans being drawn up for a two-week circuit-breaker lockdown after December 25.

The Prince Regent in Brockwell Park, south London, posted a video showing every single table left unoccupied at around lunchtime yesterday and urged the Chancellor to provide support to the hospitality industry.

The pub wrote: ‘Twas the penultimate Friday lunch before Christmas, when all through the pub, not a creature (except one) was stirring……… please Rishi Sunak #supportourpubs #Hospitalityneedshelp.’  

A picture was also posted to social media also showed a platform at Vauxhall tube station left completely empty at 9pm, captioned: ‘London is locking itself down.’ 

And Maggie’s Club in Chelsea said it had a two-hour long queue last weekend, but didn’t even have two people last night.  

MailOnline’s analysis of NHS England data shows overall Covid hospital bed occupancy in London have jumped by a fifth in the past week, in a possible sign of what Omicron has in store for the capital. Map shows: The top 10 worst and least affected hospitals in terms of Covid bed occupancy in the capital

Croydon Health Services Trust has already seen half its critical care beds taken up by Covid patients. Map shows: The top 10 worst and least affected hospitals in terms of Covid critical care bed occupancy in the capital

The Mayor of London speaks to NHS workers inside a Covid pop-up vaccination centre at Stamford Bridge this afternoon

Mr Khan poses for a picture with a young Chelsea fan who received his booster jab in a vaccination pop-up centre at Chelsea football ground at Stamford Bridge

One worker told the MailOnline: ‘Boris has completely driven away the general public, but refuses to shut us down. People are losing their jobs but the government doesn’t recognise this profession as a loss.’ 

Figures showed that footfall in London’s West End on Thursday was 32 per cent down on the same day in 2019, before the pandemic. Numbers were down 7 per cent on a week ago.

Traffic levels at the same period yesterday were 33 per cent in Birmingham, 36 per cent in Manchester, 40 per cent in Liverpool, 34 per cent in Sheffield, 46 per cent in Leeds and 28 per cent in Newcastle. 

Some restaurants said they had ‘no option’ but to shut because so many of their staff have caught coronavirus and have had to isolate amid fears the problem will worsen as the ‘tidal wave’ of infections surges across the capital.

Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of New West End Company, said: ‘With rising Covid cases dampening consumer confidence and a planned Tube strike looming on Saturday, we’re anticipating a muted final weekend of Christmas trading at a time when West End businesses should be enjoying a much-needed boost.

‘The Government must act quickly to provide temporary financial support to leisure businesses across the UK, otherwise we run the risk of further viable businesses closing their doors in the coming months.’ 

Britain’s daily Covid cases rocketed to record levels for the third day in a row yesterday with 93,000 people diagnosed in 24 hours

Covid hospital admissions have spiked by more than a third in a week in Britain’s Omicron hotspot of London, official data from yesterday shows 

What is a ‘major incident’?

A major incident is defined as being ‘beyond the scope of business-as-usual operations, and is likely to involve serious harm, damage, disruption or risk to human life or welfare, essential services, the environment or national security’. 

In addition, ‘the severity of the consequences associated with a major incident are likely to constrain or complicate the ability of responders to resource and manage the incident.’ 

They were previously declared in London after the Grenfell Tower disaster, the London Bridge and Westminster terror attacks, and the Croydon tram crash in November 2016.

The mayor also declared a major incident on January 8 due to the rapid spread of Covid-19 and its impact on the NHS, but was able to stand it down on February 26 as case numbers fell. 

According to a document produced for London authorities, a major incident involves ‘special arrangements’ being introduced by one or more emergency services.

They ‘typically’ include one or more of the following:

• Large numbers of people;
• Large numbers of medical casualties;
• The involvement of large proportions of the available police, fire and ambulance services;
• The mobilisation of support services – like shelter for people made homeless;
• A large number of public and media inquiries.

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