The Threat of Pandemic - How will London Cope?

The House of Lords Intergovernmental Organisations Committee’s report on the threat posed by a pandemic acknowledges expert opinion that claims up to 75,000 people in the UK could die when the next pandemic hits, causing severe disruption to everything from medical and social services to travel and policing. The country’s busy capital could be one of the worst hit.

Brett Lovegrove, head of the Advisory Council for the International Security and National Resilience event, ISNR London, and former Head of Counter-Terrorism for the City of London Police, believes the impact on London could be more devastating than other areas of the UK. He said: “London would be particularly hard hit because the rate of mobility within the residential and business communities alike would spread the virus quite quickly, although it wouldn’t be long before the rest of the UK would feel the effects.

“Whilst government and non-government agencies are preparing early warning and surveillance systems abroad, much can be done in London in fast-time. It is still not too late to develop business continuity plans that embrace the fact that potentially a large part of company workforces may not be able to make it into work. Indeed, the infrastructure that transports the daily commute may not be working to capacity and this will require rapid thinking around fallback arrangements. If the threat of a major event such as a pandemic leading to loss of life does not focus the mind on solutions, very little else will.”