Khan warns ‘things only going to get worse’ with Omicron unless Christmas plans shelved
Sadiq Khan warns 'things only going to get worse' with Omicron
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Sadiq Khan warned of rising case numbers appearing across the capital, voicing his concerns about cases rocketing and the Omicron strain it would cause on NHS staff. The London mayor told the press earlier this week that 30,000 cases had been recorded in one day. LBC host Shelagh Fogarty questioned the Mayor on the introduction of more restrictions by the Government, which lead Mayor khan to also discuss the impact of health measures being implemented too late.
Mr Khan said: “My concern is this, and this is the reason why after consulting with colleagues across London I declared a major incident.
“Things are only getting worse, so if we think things are bad now, and I’m interested in what you said about the caller in earlier on.
“Things are only going to get worse, late December early January and that’s my concern. My concern now is the variant spreading.
“The impact on the ability of public services to look after Londoners late December, early January.”
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Ms Fogarty said: “We know that the New Years’ celebrations are not happening and Nicola Sturgeon has made a similar announcement.
“We’ll come on to more of those things in a sec, but do you wish that yesterday Boris Johnson had said right I know it’s awful, I want you to have a good Christmas.
“But the way to have it is to stop the NHS from falling over and thousands of people dying, so we’re going to have to get stricter, is that what you wanted to hear yesterday?”
Mr khan said: “My view about Christmas is, I understand I speak from self-interest here.
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“The ability to meet your family on that occasion when we’re all off work is all-important for our mental health, for our wellbeing.
“And so my message is that we celebrate sensibly, to just lateral flow test and good ventilation.
“I think after Christmas, I think we’ve really got to look at what additional restrictions are required, with additional support for our businesses.
“Because if there aren’t additional restrictions my worry is that it runs away.”
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson uttered a similar sentiment last night to the nation in his latest announcement on restrictions.
Johnson said: “There is no doubt that Omicron continues to surge with a speed, unlike anything we’ve seen before.
“The situation remains extremely difficult but I also recognise that people have been waiting to hear whether their Christmas plans are going to be affected.
“So what I can say tonight, is that naturally we can’t rule out any further measures after Christmas – and we’re going to keep a constant eye on the data, and we’ll do whatever it takes to protect public health.
“But in view of the continuing uncertainty about several things – the severity of Omicron, uncertainty about the hospitalisation rate or the impact of the vaccine rollout or the boosters, we don’t think today that there is enough evidence to justify any tougher measures before Christmas.
“We continue to monitor Omicron very closely and if the situation deteriorates we will be ready to take action if needed.
“What this means is that people can go ahead with their Christmas plans but the situation remains finely balanced and I would urge everyone to exercise caution, to keep protecting yourselves and your loved ones, especially the vulnerable.”
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