Sadiq Khan sent a clear message today to Londoners concerning New Year’s partying, urging them not to go out and encourage others to stay home with their family.
The mayor of London urged citizens to “err on caution” and said they should avoid eating at restaurants and pubs that are unsafe.
On the BBC’s Andrew Marr program, Khan painted a dark picture of the “existential” threat to hospitality business. He said that people will cancel or bunker down because they fear Covid.
He demanded that the government provide support for venues during this crisis.
However, he made clear the point that in today’s climate revelry is not a good idea.
Sadiq Khan sent a clear message today to Londoners concerning New Year’s partying. He urged them not to go out and encourage others to stay home with the family.
Khan answered the question of whether New Year party should proceed. It is okay if it’s with your immediate family.
“I believe you need to recognize that if strangers are being introduced to you, and you don’t have your lateral flow tested on the day of your meeting, if your social distance is too high, and if ventilation is poor, then you could be transmitting the virus on to others if it has not yet manifested.
“Or you could be getting it. Be cautious.
Told that chief medic Chris Whitty was urging people to be selective about the events that were important to them personally, Mr Khan said: I’ve not had the benefit I’m afraid of listening to Chris Whitty directly, but I trust Chris Whitty… if that is the advice from the chief medical officer I would rather listen to him.’
When asked if people should continue to go to restaurants and bars, he replied: “If they are able do so safely.”
Yesterday’s major incident was declared by Mr Khan due to the hugely concerning’ surge of cases throughout the capital. Khan expressed concerns about staff absenteeism in essential public services like the NHS, fire service, and police because of infection.
London Mayor, David Cameron, warned in dire terms that Omicron’s rapid spread had made him “incredibly concerned” about whether the capital would run out of firefighters, nurses, and police officers.
He stated that the Omicron variant has been increasing in our capital. Therefore, we have declared a major incident due to the danger of Covid-19.
According to figures released by the UKHSA, Omicron cases in England rose 69% over the previous day. They went up from 9,427 to 23,168.
Boris Johnson, despite being urged by scientists to lock down the Christmas festivities in an attempt to stop spread of Omicron’s mutant variant, has refused.
“The Omicron variant quickly became dominant, with patients increasing in number and our hospital with Covid-19 seeing an increase in their numbers.”
But a Government source angrily accused Mr Khan – who announced a similar major incident in January – of politicising Covid-19.
Omicron is London’s dominant variety. It is also thought to have replaced Delta in England and Scotland.
Official figures from Friday show that the rate of the virus-infected patients at the Capital’s Hospitals has increased 28.6 percent week over week.