An internal incident has been declared at Queen Elizabeth Hospital over the number of patients testing positive for Covid-19 being admitted to the site.
The Woolwich hospital reportedly asked the London Ambulance Service to take patients to other hospitals on Sunday evening (December 27) amid concerns about a shortage in oxygen for patients.
The Woolwich hospital said it was a "precautionary step due to the high number of Covid-positive patients we are seeing at the hospital."
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust said all patients were receiving the treatment they needed, including intensive care treatment for Covid-19 and oxygen therapy as required.
"All our patients have received the treatment they need, including intensive care treatment for Covid-19 and oxygen therapy as required. We are continuing to monitor the situation to ensure that this remains the case," a statment read.
The move by Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust comes amid a surge in new coronavirus infections and hospital admissions across London.
On Monday, a record 41,385 Covid cases and 357 deaths were reported in the UK, and NHS England said the number of people being treated for the virus in hospital is now 20,426, higher than the previous peak of about 19,000 in April.
The local major incident was declared at around 1pm on Sunday, and the hospital was still diverting patients on Monday lunchtime.
The hospital was accepting children and cardiac arrest patients, but extra staff had to be called in to cope with the situation.
It it thought that the number of coronavirus patients at the 500-bed QEH were requiring more oxygen than the pipe network could supply.
In a statement released on Monday evening, the trust said: "As you may have heard in the media, we declared an internal incident at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) on Sunday 27 December as a precautionary step due to the high number of Covid-positive patients we are seeing at the hospital.
"We have been following our plan to cope with a second wave of Covid-19 and are working closely with hospital and healthcare partners in south east London.
"All our patients have received the treatment they need, including intensive care treatment for Covid-19 and oxygen therapy as required. We are continuing to monitor the situation to ensure that this remains the case."
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