COVID-19 pandemic in London

NHS Nightingale Hospital London

With a high number of cases, older populations and lower number of pre-COVID-19 critical care beds, district general hospitals, located around the centre of London were found in an analysis by Edge Health, to have experienced significant demand.[12] On the evening of 19 March, Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow said it had no critical care capacity left and was contacting neighbouring hospitals about transferring patients who need critical care to other sites.[13] On 4 April, Watford General Hospital also declared a "critical incident".[14]

Meanwhile, on 24 March, health secretary Matt Hancock said that a temporary new hospital, the NHS Nightingale Hospital, was to be opened in the ExCeL Centre in east London the following week. This critical care hospital would provide up to 4,000 extra critical care beds for London.[15] The London hospital opened on 3 April,[16] and received its first patients on 7 April.[17] As other London hospitals increased critical care capacity, the Nightingale hospital treated 51 patients in its first three weeks,[18] and on 4 May was set to be placed "on standby", accepting no further patients.[19]

The number of people in London hospitals for COVID-19 peaked on 11 April, according to week-on-week change data.[20]

Stay at home and social distancing notices London Underground March 2020

The Waterloo & City line, several tube stations and the Night Tube were suspended on 19 March,[21] with the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) urging people to only use public transport if absolutely essential so that it can be used by critical workers.[22] From 20 March, 40 tube stations were closed.[21] From 25 March, London Underground measures to combat the spread of the virus by slowing the flow of passengers onto platforms included the imposition of queuing at ticket gates and turning off some escalators.[23]

On 20 March, Southeastern became the first train operating company to announce a reduced timetable, which would come into use from 23 March.[24] From 30 March, the Gatwick Express service was suspended.[25]

On 21 March, TfL closed the Emirates Air Line cable car until further notice.[26]

On 25 March, London City Airport announced it would temporarily close due to the coronavirus outbreak.[27] Heathrow Airport closed one runway from 6 April, while Gatwick Airport closed one of its two terminals, and said its runway would open for scheduled flights only between 2pm and 10pm.[28]

London bus with COVID-19 central door entry

In April, TfL trialled changes encouraging passengers to board London buses by the middle or rear doors to lessen the risks to drivers, after the deaths of 14 TfL workers including nine drivers.[29] This measure was extended to all routes on 20 April, and passengers were no longer required to pay, so they did not need to use the card reader near the driver.[30]

On 22 April, London mayor Sadiq Khan warned that TfL could run out of money to pay staff by the end of April unless the government stepped in.[31] Two days later, TfL announced it was furloughing around 7,000 employees, about a quarter of its staff, to help mitigate a 90% reduction in fare revenues. Since London entered lockdown on 23 March, Tube journeys had fallen by 95% and bus journeys by 85%, though TfL continued to operate limited services to allow "essential travel" for key workers.[32] Without government financial support for TfL, London Assembly members warned that Crossrail, the Northern line extension and other projects such as step-free schemes at tube stations could be delayed.[33] On 7 May, it was reported that TfL had requested £2 billion in state aid to keep services running until September 2020.[34] On 12 May, TfL documents warned it expected to lose £4bn due to the pandemic and said it needed £3.2bn to balance a proposed emergency budget for 2021, having lost 90% of its overall income. Without an agreement with the government, deputy mayor for transport Heidi Alexander said TfL might have to issue a "Section 114 notice" – the equivalent of a public body going bust.[35] On 14 May, the UK Government agreed £1.6bn in emergency funding to keep Tube and bus services running until September.[36]

By 17 March most universities in London had suspended face-to-face learning or were planning to do so by 23 March, many moving classes online.[37] It was announced on 18 March that schools in London would close by 20 March, as in the rest of the UK.[38]