London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a major incident today, warning that he is concerned about the ‘huge surge’ of Omicron cases.

A major incident is not a lockdown, but it is a warning that emergency services are extremely busy due to unusual circumstances and may not respond as quickly as they usually would. It also allows emergency services to work together more closely than they usually would.

London has the highest cases of the Omicron Covid variant, and as this spreads faster than the older variants, the Mayor has warned about rising hospital admissions.

The Mayor also announced that there would be more vaccination centers opening for Covid jabs.

I’m hugely concerned about the surge of COVID-19 cases and rising hospital admissions across the capital. By declaring a Major Incident today, key agencies across London can better work together. I implore every eligible Londoner to get vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/jUOV6REtIP

— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) December 18, 2021

Words by Ashna Nadesan

Sub-edited by Mohammed Aljarba