Sadiq Khan warns of ‘new restrictions’ for London
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has this afternoon said that he will implement “new restrictions” on the capital in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease.
“I have just met with local council leaders from all parties and public health experts to agree a new London plan to slow the spread of the virus and save Londoners lives”, he said.
“This includes some new restrictions. We will collectively be asking the Government to implement this plan as soon as possible and I will be discussing it with the Prime Minister tomorrow morning.”
He said that it was important to take “firm action” now, saying it would be better for the country’s economic recovery in the long run, as well as saving more lives.
Khan did not go into any details of the plan, saying he would wait until it had been agreed with Boris Johnson.
He also said that he “expected” to be invited to tomorrow’s emergency COBR meeting to discuss plans for a new national lockdown, which are widely expected to be announced tomorrow.
Earlier today it was reported that Khan had not been invited to the meeting, which will see the PM meet with the heads of the UK’s devolved administrations.
“The Prime Minister is also expected to announce new national rules tomorrow. Given the huge impact these will have on London, I expect to be invited to the Government’s COBR meeting to discuss his plans tomorrow morning”, Khan’s statement went on.
“We must learn from the mistakes of the first wave”, he added.
Khan’s announcement came after the UK’s chief medical officers called for the government to increase the coronavirus alert level from three to four.
A statement signed by the nation’s four top medical officials said they have “reviewed the evidence” and that “the number of cases are now rising rapidly and probably exponentially in significant parts of all four nations”.
Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said today that at the current rate of infection, the UK would have 50,000 new Covid cases a day in a months’ time and 200 deaths a day by November.