On Friday, the Mayor of London declared a ‘major incident’ in the capital as a result of the rapid spread of the coronavirus and the increase of Covid-19 cases in hospitals.

Responding to the decision, London Councils Chair Cllr Georgia Gould, said: “Cases are rising at a dangerous rate in London, putting extreme pressure on the NHS.

“One in 30 Londoners now has Covid. This is why public services across London are urging all Londoners to please stay at home except for absolutely essential shopping and exercise.

“We know how tough this is for Londoners. Councils are here to support anyone struggling to access food or medicine.

“Today, the thoughts of London leaders are with the thousands of Londoners in hospital battling Covid and the amazing carers fighting to save lives. We owe it to them to do all we can to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe.

“This is a dark and difficult time for our city, but there is light at end of the tunnel with the vaccine rollout. We are asking Londoners to come together one last time to stop the spread - lives really do depend on it.”

Seven large scale vaccination centres, including the ExCel Centre in London, have been announced as the government unveiled details of its vaccination programme.

The NHS Covid-19 Vaccination Centre, Newham, which is being run by Barts Health NHS Trust, will serve the whole of London.

The UK COVID-19 vaccines delivery plan sets out how the government plans to deliver the largest vaccination programme in British history, with the capacity to deliver at least two million vaccinations in England per week by the end of January.

The government said that it had received more than 200,000 offers of non-clinical support from the public and businesses to help with the logistics of the programme.

Responding to last week's announcement by the Chancellor of a £4.6 billion relief package for businesses forced to close under the lockdown, London Councils Executive Member for Business, Europe and Good Growth, Cllr Danny Thorpe, said: "Businesses, especially those in significantly affected sectors like hospitality and retail, are desperate for a lifeline. London boroughs are pleased that the government has recognised that without a substantial support package, businesses in these sectors will not survive the latest lockdown restrictions.

"The package [announced by the Chancellor] is intended to support businesses until the spring, but we are under no illusion that the effects of this pandemic will be over by then. We need a long-term plan to support businesses and to safeguard their future. London boroughs are calling for business certainty going forwards including an immediate announcement of a targeted extension to the Business Rates holiday and extension to VAT reliefs beyond March 2021.  We also need better support for the self-employed, along with proper support for workers forced to self-isolate. This is a marathon, not a sprint and we must reassure businesses that they are not alone in the fight for their future."

The London Office of Technology and Innovation (LOTI) has launched a Covid Innovation Fund, which will make up to £150,000 available to help boroughs work together to design and put in place measures that address Covid-related challenges.

Funding of up to £75,000 each is available to two projects, one of which will involve making smarter use of data; the other, making better use of digitally-enabled approaches.

Boroughs have been invited to submit a one-line summary of their project ideas and the deadline for full submissions is 1 February. You can find more details of the funding and the timeline for applications on LOTI's website here.