Hospital patients are being discharged from a south London hospital and relocated to a hotel to free-up beds for critically ill coronavirus patients, according to reports.

King’s College Hospital is sending mainly homeless patients to a Best Western in Croydon, part of The London Hotel Group (LHG), to alleviate pressure on wards.

The London Hotel Group (LHG) is said to be in talks with 20 other NHS trusts and says it could provide 5,000 beds.

Families will be expected to play a key role in monitoring and caring for loved ones, with support from health professionals where possible.

A hospital spokesman said: “To create capacity in the hospital to care for the high number of patients requiring admission, we have partnered with a local hotel to temporarily accommodate mainly homeless patients who are ready to safely leave hospital and will benefit from further support from community partners.”

LHG’s chief executive, Meher Nawab, told the Guardian: “We will be looking to roll this solution out across our hotels to provide hospitals with a lifeline at this critical time.”

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An LHG spokesperson added: “The patient group the NHS is seeking to accommodate at this stage are recovered or recovering from Covid and who are medically fit for discharge, and thus do not require specialist medical supervision or specialist care, but can’t yet return home.

“This frees up NHS bedspace and capacity and is relatively easy for hotels to accommodate.”

The Government said a further 1,243 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Tuesday, which brings the UK total to 83,203.

Separate figures published by the UK's statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 99,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.

Mayor Sadiq Khan and London Councils have implored Boris Johnson to urgently implement even stricter coronavirus measures in the capital – including closing places of worship – or risk putting an “unsustainable strain” on the NHS and public services.

This comes as London hospitals deal with record numbers of Covid-19 patients.

Several boroughs in the capital rank amongst the highest infection rates in the country, including Bexley, whilst the outlook looks "increasingly dire" for local hospitals.