London hospitals will receive support from the armed forces as the capital struggles with a high absence rate among health staff. 

The news comes as the city shows "encouraging" signs of the Omicron wave easing as rates for positive cases dropped in London over the last week. 

Minister for London Paul Scully discussed the easing rate of Omicron in the capitol on LBC and said: "I think it is looking encouraging, the trend at the moment, but clearly we need to be on our guard because there is still pressure on the NHS in London."

"The increased testing and the increased awareness by people, you’ve got bigger absences as well, and that’s obviously putting extra pressure on the NHS and other public services," he added.

Your Local Guardian: London will be the first area to get the extra support. (PA)London will be the first area to get the extra support. (PA)

Scully also mentioned in the interview that military personal is being deployed in the city and would be a "mixture of medics, porterage and these kinds of things."

There was also some discussion on the military being deployed further across the nation. 

As Air Commodore John Lyle told BBC Breakfast: "We can’t really forecast too far ahead, but certainly, throughout this current surge, we know that it’s particularly difficult in London at the minute but we are aware that this is impacting all across the United Kingdom."

"Over the coming weeks or months, I think we’ll learn a lot from how the progress is made through London and potentially there could be further military support required in other areas," he added.