Coronavirus digest: London declares major incident over soaring cases

In Britain, London mayor Sadiq Khan has declared a major incident, warning that hospitals across the capital could struggle to cope with new infections linked to a new strain. 'The stark reality is that we will run out of beds for patients in the next couple of weeks unless the spread of the virus slows down drastically,' Khan said in a statement, calling for more support and action from the central UK government. 'We are declaring a major incident because the threat this virus poses to our city is at crisis point.' The number of patients in the capital's hospitals has grown by 27% in the last week and the number on ventilators has increased by 42%. Britain on Friday reported 1,325 news deaths from the coronavirus — its highest daily tally since the pandemic began. The last record of 1,224 was reported in April.