Mayor Sadiq Khan explains a major incident in London

London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a serious incident this afternoon when he warned that the spread of the coronavirus in the capital was "out of control".

More than 1 percent of the city's nine million residents tested positive for Covid last week. One in 30 residents is currently infected. In the worst hit counties, the rate is feared to be as high as one in 20.

Amazing numbers also show that hospital admissions rose by a quarter in the first week of January. There are currently more than 7,000 NHS beds in the capital occupied by Covid patients – 35 percent more than on the busiest day of the pandemic in spring.

Mr Khan said the NHS had announced 477 deaths in London hospitals in the last three days alone after testing positive for Covid-19.

In a letter to Boris Johnson, he called for churches and other places of worship to be closed, and for face masks to be routinely worn outside the home, including in supermarket lines and other places outside the home that may be crowded.

He also wants more financial support for Londoners who are self-isolating and unable to work, as well as for daily vaccination dates.

The government said an additional 1,325 people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 on Friday – the highest number of deaths in the UK reported in a single day since the outbreak began. It brings the UK to 79,833 total.

According to the results of the largest British test program, there are already cases of coronavirus in London. It suggests that the worst of the second wave may have passed due to the stringent Tier 4 restrictions that were put in place before Christmas.

Figures from the Bureau of National Statistics, which are tracking the size of the outbreak through random smears from thousands of people, suggest the capital's crisis reversed on December 29, a week before the country's third national lockdown went into effect.

However, due to the nature of the disease, there is a delay between the number of rising and falling cases and a corresponding change in hospital admissions and deaths.

In a statement today, Mr Khan said: "The situation in London is critical now as the virus is spreading out of control." Serious incidents were reported in London following the Grenfell Tower disaster, the terrorist attacks on London Bridge and Westminster and the Croydon tram crash in November 2016.

It came when the police blew up a "small selfish minority" who ignored the rules and promised to crack down on the violators.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said: "I know Londoners will be shocked that officials are still dealing with a small selfish minority who believe the rules don't apply to them when they have house parties, hold large warehouses or other gatherings. " These create breeding grounds for the much more transferable variant. & # 39;

Another day of the coronavirus mayhem:

• Up to 100,000 Britons abroad have five days to come home or be banned without a negative Covid test.
• The UK's coronavirus R-rate could now be anywhere between 1.0 and 1.4 and up to 150,000 people could be infected with the virus every day, the government's top scientific advisors said.
• Drivers are turned away by England's beauty marks while police question parents with strollers if they're pushing England's third ban too far.
• The Welsh ban is extended for an additional three weeks as schools and colleges are closed until February.
• NHS scammers horror injects fake coronavirus into 92-year-old woman and charges her 160 pounds;
• Nursing home workers with Covid should stay at work due to increasing staff shortages.
• Pfizer's vaccine is effective against the South African and UK strains of coronavirus.
• National Express is suspending all bus connections due to new closures and falling passenger numbers.
• Stanley Johnson boasts that he will soon be receiving his second dose of the Covid vaccine – if many are still waiting for their first
• And a survey shows that more people are planning to take the Covid vaccine, up to 85 percent from 78 percent last month.

Cases a day in London

People hospitalized in London

Coronavirus deaths in London

In a letter to Boris Johnson, he called for churches and other places of worship to be closed, and for face masks to be routinely worn outside the home, including in supermarket lines and other places outside the home that may be crowded

He said the NHS had announced 477 deaths in London hospitals in the past three days alone after testing positive for Covid-19 (Piccadilly Circus pictured today).

The Bureau of National Statistics found in its mass testing program that nearly two-thirds (61%) of the positive tests found in England appeared to be related to the new variant of the virus. In some regions – particularly London and the south – the number was higher but in others it was lower

Mr. Khan added: “The number of cases in London has increased rapidly and more than a third more patients are being treated in our hospitals compared to the peak of the pandemic last April.

“Our heroic doctors, nurses and NHS staff are doing a great job, but with cases growing so rapidly, our hospitals are at risk of being overwhelmed. The dire reality is we won't have any beds for patients for the next few weeks unless the spread of the virus slows down drastically.

“We are declaring a major incident because the threat this virus poses to our city is in crisis. If we don't take immediate action now, our NHS could be overwhelmed and more people will die.

“Londoners continue to make great sacrifices and today I beg them to please stay home unless you absolutely have to go. Stay home to protect yourself, your family, friends and other Londoners and to protect our NHS. & # 39;

A serious incident has already been reported in neighboring Surrey and Sussex.

Scientists found today that the reproductive number or R-value of coronavirus transmission in the UK is between 1 and 1.4. When R was last updated on December 23, 2020, it was between 1.1 and 1.3.

An R number between 1 and 1.4 means that on average every 10 infected people will infect between 10 and 14 other people.

Sage said the estimates released on Friday represent the transmission of Covid-19 in the past few weeks rather than the current situation. This is due to the time lag between infection, symptoms, and the need for medical attention.

A new mass test showed that the highly infectious new variant of the coronavirus that appeared in Kent accounts for 61 percent of all new Covid cases in England and infects 70,000 people every day.

The team behind the ZOE Covid Symptom Study app, conducted with King & # 39; s College London, says the number of people reporting symptoms on a daily basis rose 27 percent from 55,226 to 69,958 in one week.

And separate research by the Office of National Statistics found that of the estimated 1.1 million people currently infected with the coronavirus, nearly two-thirds have the fast-spreading variant of the virus.

The variant has become dominant in some regions, 81 percent of the time in London, but is still linked to less than half of infections in northern England, the Midlands and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Georgia Gould, Chair of the London Councils, said: “Cases in London are growing at a dangerous rate and putting extreme pressure on the NHS.

One in 30 Londoners now has Covid. It is for this reason that public services across London urge all Londoners to stay at home except for essential shopping and exercise.

“We know how difficult it is for Londoners. The councils are here to assist anyone who is having difficulty accessing food or medicine.

“Today the thoughts of London leaders are with the thousands of Londoners in the hospital fighting Covid and the amazing caregivers fighting to save lives. We owe it to them to do everything we can to protect ourselves and our loved ones.

“This is a dark and difficult time for our city, but at the end of the tunnel there is light with the introduction of the vaccine. We're asking Londoners to come together one last time to stop the spread – life really depends on it. & # 39;

The highly contagious Kent variant of Covid has become dominant in some regions, in 81 percent of cases in London

Georgia Gould, Chair of the London Councils, said: “One in 30 Londoners now has Covid. It is for this reason that public services across London urge all Londoners to stay at home except for essential shopping and exercise. & # 39;

The UK approves Moderna's Covid vaccine but will not receive a dose until March at the earliest

The UK today approved Moderna's coronavirus vaccine – but will not be able to receive any of the 17 million doses it has bought until March at the earliest.

Moderna's Covid Jab is the third to receive the go-ahead from UK regulators to join Pfizer / BioNTech and Oxford University / AstraZeneca vaccines.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock admitted No10 won't get a dose until the spring but said, "This is more great news and another weapon in our arsenal to tame this terrible disease." And Economy Minister Alok Sharma described it as "another big step towards ending the lockdown".

The EU, which approved the same vaccine two days ago, will get supplies starting next week after health chiefs signed a deal with the US company last summer to buy 180 million doses.

With Britain now trying to vaccinate 13 million British at risk in hopes of ending the perennial cycle of lockdowns by mid-February, an additional push could have been a boon.

Boris Johnson announced yesterday evening that he would turn on the army to speed up the UK's dragging program when the Prime Minister promised to deliver 200,000 cans a day by next Friday. He also pledged to offer a sting to every resident of a nursing home by the end of January and announced a new national online booking system that officials hope will speed up the process drastically.

So far, the vaccination campaign – the largest in British history – has been plagued by delivery and staffing shortages, logistical problems and bureaucratic obstacles stifling scale-up, meaning only 1.5 million have received at least one dose.

It comes after Moderna's executive director said last night it was likely the company's vaccine would offer protection for a few years. However, Stéphane Bancel said more research is needed to determine how long the coronavirus shot will hold off.

Retirees imagined queuing outside a vaccination center in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire today. Boris Johnson may already be delivering on his promise to move the country forward

Pictured: Scientists working on the Moderna vaccine in a laboratory

As the UK prepared to speed up vaccinations:

• Up to 100,000 Britons abroad have five days to come home or be banned without a negative Covid test.
• Drivers are turned away by England's beauty marks while police question parents with strollers if they're pushing England's third ban too far.
• The Welsh ban is extended for an additional three weeks as schools and colleges are closed until February.
• NHS scammers horror injects fake coronavirus into 92-year-old woman and charges her 160 pounds;
• Nursing home workers with Covid should stay at work due to increasing staff shortages.
• Pfizer's vaccine is effective against the South African and UK strains of coronavirus.
• National Express is suspending all bus connections due to new closures and falling passenger numbers.
• Stanley Johnson boasts that he will soon be receiving his second dose of the Covid vaccine – if many are still waiting for their first
• And a survey shows that more people are planning to take the Covid vaccine, up to 85 percent from 78 percent last month.

Moderna's vaccine was the second after Pfizer and BioNTech to announce the results of its most recent clinical trials when it did so in November. They showed that the vaccine appeared to prevent 94.5 percent of Covid cases.

Mr Hancock called the vaccine a "candle of hope" at the time, but the UK had not pre-ordered it.

No10 had placed pre-orders for seven other candidates, including picks from Pfizer and BioNTech, Oxford University and AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Valneva, Imperial College London and Novavax.

Modernas and Pfizers use the same technology that has never been tried before. Scientists said it would have been a huge gamble for Britain to order both.

There was a mess the day the Moderna results were released. British officials managed to close a deal for five million cans before Mr Hancock announced it at a news conference on television that afternoon at 5 p.m. This was later expanded to 7 million, but the number is now around 17 million.

Retirees imagined queuing outside a center in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire today to receive their Covid-19 vaccine

Arthur Clark, 99, an RAF veteran, says he still doesn't need to get a Covid vaccination despite the program that started a month ago

The great-grandfather of four spoke to MailOnline from his home in Beckenham, south east London, and said he had been trying to get an appointment since Christmas. Pictured on the left is Arthur with his family and on the right is an RAF soldier

The catch, however, was that the UK wouldn't get any of the cans until March 2021, as the US had an exclusive deal for the first 20 million cans because the government had given the company so much money.

Hancock welcomed today's approval, adding, “We have already vaccinated nearly 1.5 million people across the UK, and Moderna's vaccine will allow us to accelerate our vaccination program even further once doses become available this spring.

"As we immunize the people most at risk from Covid, I urge everyone to continue to follow the rules to keep cases down and protect our loved ones."

According to MHRA guidelines, the two doses of the vaccine should be distributed within 28 days, in contrast to the controversial recommendations for the other two puffs, after which they can be taken up to 12 weeks apart.

Dr. June Raine, CEO of MHRA, said, “Today's approval brings more encouraging news to the public and the healthcare sector.

& # 39; Getting a third Covid vaccine approved after a solid and thorough assessment of all available data on delivery is an important goal and I am proud that the agency helped make this a reality.

& # 39; The advances we are now making on vaccines at a regulatory level are not contributing to this, but we are helping in our global battle against this disease and ultimately helping to save lives. I want to repeat that our aim is always to put public protection first.

& # 39; Once used, all Covid vaccines are continuously monitored by the MHRA. This ensures that the benefits of protecting people from Covid far outweigh any potential side effects.

"In the meantime, it's important that everyone, even if you've received a vaccine, abides by national lockdown restrictions and reminds them at all times to 'stay vigilant, protect the NHS and save lives'."

Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, Chair of the Expert Working Group of the Independent Commission on Medicinal Products for Human Use, said: “We are pleased to make a positive recommendation for the Moderna vaccine that will help launch the Covid vaccination program.

"As with all Covid vaccine data observed so far, we made sure that a solid and thorough safety assessment was conducted with the independent experts sitting in this group."

After claims yesterday that a one-off blast of Covid that has the potential to significantly improve the UK's sluggish vaccination program could be approved in the UK by next month.

Scientists and government sources believe the vaccine, made by the Belgian arm of pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson, could get emergency approval within weeks.

The jab uses technology similar to the Oxford University vaccine, which makes it just as easy to carry and store, but only requires a single injection to protect against Covid.

However, it will not be clear how effective the vaccine is until the trial results are published and presented to the UK regulatory agency, which is expected to happen in early February.