Covid: London emergency services 'resilient' despite surge in cases

London's emergency services say they are working as normal despite surging Covid cases.

The mayor of London declared a "major incident" on Saturday due to the rapid spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant in the capital.

At the time Sadiq Khan said staff absences in the emergency services were "going up by a massive level".

However, both the Met Police and London Fire Brigade (LFB) said they remained "resilient" despite the challenges.

When making his announcement, Mr Khan said Omicron was now the "dominant variant" in London and was having an impact on staff absences in the emergency services across the city.

A major incident is any emergency which requires the implementation of special arrangements by one or all of the emergency services, the NHS or the local authority.

It means the emergency services and hospitals cannot guarantee their normal level of response.

Despite the challenges the Met said it was "continuing to provide a resilient and strong policing service to London".

Last week the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) claimed that nearly a third of London's fire engines were out of action in the last week as a result of staff shortages.

However, the LFB said it faced "staffing challenges" but was still meeting its attendance targets.

The London Ambulance Service (LAS) has not provided staffing levels but did confirm some staff were off sick or self-isolating from Covid and they had increased access to testing.

An LAS spokesman said: "We are extremely busy at the moment and we are doing everything we can to ensure we can reach those who need us this winter.

"We have increased access to testing for staff, which allows those who test negative to return to work quickly and safely, so they can continue caring for patients across London."

He added Londoners can help by using NHS111 online or speaking to a pharmacist for non-urgent advice.

Meanwhile chief executive of NHS Providers Chris Hopson tweeted on Saturday that pressure was "mounting" on NHS services in London.

"Covid linked staff absences up 140% from 1,900 Sunday to 4,700 Thurs. Some Trusts now having to postpone non essential activity," he wrote.

Mr Hopson added that Trusts also faced "huge pressure in non-Covid care", while also facilitating the expanded vaccine booster programme and preparing for "potentially large numbers of new omicron hospitalised Covid patients".