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A major incident was declared in London today, as the number of Covid cases and sick patients at the hospital reached “critical” levels.
Mayor Sadiq Khan made the emergency declaration to accelerate national aid for the NHS, which he said was “about to be overwhelmed” and run out of beds. The virus is “out of control” in the capital, he said, and Londoners are under orders to obey the shutdown and not mix over the weekend.
There are more than 7,000 Covid patients in London hospitals, nearly 2,000 more than the first peak last April, and nearly 1,000 use ventilators.
Intensive care physicians said 19 to 30 year olds were being hospitalized with the new “Kent strain” of the virus and issued an alert to intensive care colleagues across continental Europe. Another 10,000 Londoners tested positive for Covid yesterday and the seven-day rate of 1,035.9 cases per 100,000 people is by far the highest in the country.
In another alarming development, infections are skyrocketing in older Londoners, which will inevitably increase the death toll. Last night 9,306 Londoners had died in the 28 days after a positive test and 78,508 across the UK. In other key developments:
- The number of cases in Londoners over 60 has quadrupled since early December, with many contracting the disease over Christmas.
- Doctors warned that intensive care nurses were on the brink of exhaustion and that they were being pushed so hard that there was a “very, very real risk” of harm to patients.
- They said there was “no evidence” that high-pressure oxygen CPAP masks performed better than invasive ventilation, and that some patients deteriorated rapidly after long periods on CPAP.
- New research indicated that the Pfizer vaccine may be effective against the Kentish and South African variants.
- The number of coronavirus “incidents” in nursing homes in the capital has risen, with 99 in the last week.
The Royal London, the capital’s largest hospital, has more than 120 intensive care patients and space for about 30 more. A doctor said last night that he was unsure how they would cope if the number surpassed 150 amid fears that intensive care will have to be rationed.
Professor Rupert Pearse told the European Society for Intensive Care Medicine that doctors had been “appalled” by the recent surge in cases in London.
He said: “The situation is really serious. The workload is phenomenal. In my hospital we have more than 120 ICU patients. We expect it to stop at about 150, but we don’t know.
“If it goes over this number, I’m really not sure what we’re going to do. We do not have a developed solution for that situation. But we know that we are expected to continue to receive these patients. ”
Sir Simon Stevens, executive director of NHS England, admitted last night that there was a “material risk” that London hospitals could be overwhelmed in the next 21 days. He said the income scale was equivalent to filling St Thomas Hospital on a daily basis.
Khan, who declared the main incident as chair of the London Resilience Forum, said today: “The situation in London is now critical with the virus spreading out of control.
“Our heroic doctors, nurses and NHS staff are doing an incredible job, but with cases increasing 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 two weeks unless the spread of the virus is drastically slowed down.
“We declare an important incident because the threat posed by this virus to our city is at a crisis point. If we do not take immediate action now, our NHS could be overwhelmed and more people will die. ”London is believed to have last reported a major city-wide incident after the 7/7 terrorist attacks in 2005.
“Londoners continue to make great sacrifices and today I implore you to stay home, unless absolutely necessary,” Khan said.
Among those over 60, the number of cases since early December has risen to more than 12,000 in the week through January 2. The seven-day rate for people 60 and older is increasing as fast, if not slightly faster, than for people under 60. this age.
In a reversal of the situation during the first wave of the pandemic, the director of the UK Intensive Care Society, Dr Stephen Webb, warned doctors in Italy and across the continent: “Prepare yourself. This is serious. This is more challenging than the first wave. ”Despite the immediate bleak outlook, there were indications that the increase in cases in London, driven by the new strain, could be peaking, with 10,150 new cases announced yesterday a fall in the last days.
