Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told the UK to stay at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The announcement comes as the UK death toll has reached 335 today, with 16 of those in Wales. The total number of confirmed cases in the UK rose to 6,650, with 418 in Wales.
Many businesses high street businesses including McDonald’s, Primark, Nandos, Disney, Apple and jewellery shops have already announced the temporary closure of their stores.
In his statement, the Prime Minister has announced the immediate closure of non-essential businesses and limit people from leaving their homes.
The Government has promised to review these measures in three weeks times, and will relax them if they can.
The full list of places that will now close
- Clothing and electronics stores; hair, beauty and nail salons; and outdoor and indoor markets, excluding food markets
- Libraries, community centres, and youth centres
- Indoor and outdoor leisure facilities such as bowling alleys, arcades and soft play facilities
- Communal places within parks, such as playgrounds, sports courts and outdoor gyms
- Places of worship, except for funerals attended by immediate families
- Hotels, hostels, bed and breakfasts, campsites, caravan parks
Boris Johnson said:
“All over the world we are seeing the devastating impact of this invisible killer.
“And so tonight I want to update you on the latest steps we are taking to fight the disease and what you can do to help.
“And I want to begin by reminding you why the UK has been taking the approach that we have.
“Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there won’t be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses.
“And as we have seen elsewhere, in other countries that also have fantastic health care systems, that is the moment of real danger.
“To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it – meaning more people are likely to die, not just from Coronavirus but from other illnesses as well.
“So it’s vital to slow the spread of the disease.”
