Coronavirus UK: London nightlife busy despite fears of outbreak

Defiant Friday night revellers are still hitting the streets of London tonight despite the fact millions of workers stayed at home today over coronavirus fears.

Huge crowds gathered outside theatres this evening for popular West End shows near Leicester Square such as The Book of Mormom and Les Miserables.

So far the government has not banned theatre or cinema events taking place, with shows going ahead as normal.

Even though it was business as usual tonight in the capital it comes as millions of British workers stayed at home today as commuters found car parks empty, train carriages deserted and seats available on the busiest routes because of the coronavirus crisis.

Mainline railways stations in the UK’s towns and cities are largely empty as were Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted airports while major shopping streets in London usually teeming with people also eerily quiet.

Transport for London, who had a Jubilee Line train driver test positive for coronavirus today, has said that on buses and the Tube, used by 5million each day, journeys are down two per cent in a week.

As many as 20million of the country’s 33million working population could soon be working from home, according to an office survey by IWG Global Workplace. 

Social media users reported quieter than usual trains travelling to cities including London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Newcastle, Birmingham and Cambridge.

One Twitter user said: ‘It’s so quiet for the rush hour train to Newcastle … everyone in scarves or masks and you can tell the sheer fear has hit.’ Another wrote: ‘Eerily quiet on the trains this morning but business as usual on the ward. Has the feel of those weird days between Christmas and New Year.’ 

The mass stayaway came after the Prime Minister said people with even mild symptoms, including a continuous cough or high temperature, must stay at home for at least seven days.

Boris Johnson’s guidance was issued yesterday with between 5,000 and 10,000 people in the UK already thought to be infected with coronavirus, when the official figures show 596 cases and ten deaths.   

The Government’s softer approach to shutting down communities when compared to other countries has triggered a row as critics including former ministers Jeremy Hunt and Rory Stewart branding the decision to keep schools open and not to ban major gatherings ‘concerning’ and ‘dangerous’.

As the UK’s coronavirus situation escalates, global developments include: 

• A Chinese spokesman accused the US military of bringing the coronavirus to Wuhan – the Chinese city where the COVID-19 outbreak began at the end of December; 
• A 37-year-old US woman who beat the infection claimed she didn’t suffer the tell-tale symptom of a cough and instead only had a headache and tingling arms and legs;
• French President Emmanuel Macron declared the pandemic as France’s worst health crisis in a century and announced schools, universities and day-care centres would be shut from Monday;
• Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa ordered the shut-down of schools and universities and placed limits on the number of people in nightclubs, restaurants and shopping centres at any one time;
• Belgium announced the closure of all schools, restaurants, cafes and nightclubs and also banned recreational and sporting events in its fight to contain the growing epidemic; 
• Danish authorities called on shoppers to avoid excessive stockpiling after it closed schools and universities and suspended indoor events with more than 100 participants; 
• Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon revealed gatherings of 500 people or more would be stopped from Monday and school trips would be cancelled; 
• Germany shut nightclubs and schools after Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that up to 70 per cent of the country’s population – 58million people – could contract the coronavirus;
• Spain locked down four towns in Catalonia, shut schools and universities and suspended Parliament after its deputy prime minister was in self-isolation after his wife tested positive for the virus;
• An Italian medical chief died of the coronavirus at the age of 67, as the death toll in the country – the centre of Europe’s escalating crisis – jumped to over 1,000;
• Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the government will effectively ban ‘non essential’ public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday.

Arriving at Manchester Piccadilly train station this morning was project manager Rizwan Atcha, 37, who told MailOnline: ‘I’ve come from Bolton, the train was eerie.

‘Normally you can’t get any space but today there was more than usual. I’m assuming that was because of the virus. 

‘I have driven to Manchester before but it takes twice as long. In terms of taking the risk I’m ready to meet my maker.’ 

Nick Parker, 44, a mortgage lender from Buckingham, said: ‘I come through from Milton Keynes once or twice a week.

‘It was quieter than normal and so was the station, no one was acting strangely but that’s because there was only about four people in the carriage. You’ve just got to get on with things.’

Leszek Monouszko, 34, a flight attendant from Dubai, added: ‘I’ve come on the train from Manchester Airport, I came into Manchester yesterday as I work as a flight attendant.

‘I’m worried for my work but my health not so much. I think people our age should not be worried so much.’

While exact passenger numbers were not available, the Rail Delivery Group confirmed they are lower than usual.

A spokesman said: ‘Our primary focus during the coronavirus outbreak is to keep our passengers and our people safe, and the country moving.’

He added: ‘While the Government is not advising people to avoid public transport, unless they are showing symptoms of coronavirus, and rail companies are enhancing their cleaning on trains and at stations, we are seeing fewer people choosing to travel.’ 

The Government’s decision not to announced stricter rules on travelling or gathering in crowds has prompted a political row, with Tory ex-ministers slamming Mr Johnson’s course of action.  

Jeremy Hunt, former Health Secretary and now chair of the Commons health and social care select committee, believes the PM must do more to encourage social distancing – and was particularly concerned care homes are not being told to ban visitors. 

While Rory Stewart, London mayor candidate who led the UK’s effort to fight Ebola in Africa in 2019, said: ‘I think we can be very tough, and clear [with the British public]. This is the worst pandemic we have had for 100 years.

‘The Government’s approach is essentially defeatist. They are saying we cannot suppress this. They say there is no point in spending a huge amount of money trying to suppress this, instead they are trying to manage the increase. We are taking far too much risk.

‘I think that is a dangerous thing to do. I don’t think if we allow this to spread it can be managed in that way.

‘And when you start getting serious numbers of people dying and the terrible choices that have to be made in hospitals, people will think that paying the cost early, now, was the right thing to do.’

Mr Stewart, who is now an independent politician after leaving the Conservative Party, added: ‘I’m absolutely confident that acting early is the better option. I would be shutting all schools and banning all gatherings immediately.

‘I think it is too pessimistic and defeatist and we should be taking the approach seen in China and South Korea that have actually reduced the number of cases. It can be done. It requires very tough and extreme measures.

‘The Government questions whether the public is up for the kind of measures we have seen in other countries. I disagree, I believe the British public will do what others have done’.

Debate is raging over whether the Prime Minister has gone far enough to protect the UK’s 66million people from the pandemic.

The official number of coronavirus cases in the UK yesterday jumped by 134 to 596 with 10 deaths – but the Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said the true number was probably up to 10,000 cases and growing rapidly. 

But Mr Johnson has still held off drastic measures enforced across Europe such as banning mass gatherings and closing schools, telling Britons that the most important measure remains to wash hands for 20 seconds – and told people to stay at home for seven days if they have a new persistent cough or a high temperature. 

A ban on flights to and from Europe – like the one announced by US President Donald Trump – was also dismissed by the Government yesterday. 

Asked about the decision not to cancel large gatherings yet, with 70,000 at Cheltenham for the Gold Cup today, Jeremy Hunt told the BBC’s Newsnight: ‘I think it is surprising and concerning that we’re not doing any of it at all when we have just four weeks before we get to the stage that Italy is at.’ 

Mini Setty, a partner in employment law at Langleys Solicitors said: ‘As the UK attempts to delay the peak of the virus, millions of Britons are getting ready to work from home and considering ways to ‘socially distance’ themselves from others.

‘Thousands of businesses, are frantically making plans to better enable remote working during this time, setting up conference facilities to connect businesses with their clients and putting in place operational strategies in the event a member of their workforce tests positive for COVID-19 or their offices have to shut’.

Adam Pennington, employment law solicitor at Stephensons, told MailOnline: ‘As the coronavirus pandemic takes a firm grip in the UK, it’s clear that many businesses are now exploring options for staff to work from home wherever possible. It’s expected that thousands of workers will take up home working opportunities over the next few weeks and from what we have seen many have already begun to do so. 

‘An IWG Global Workplace survey found 61 per cent of companies currently allow their staff to work remotely, meaning as many as 20 million UK workers already can work from home as pandemic worsens and the safeguarding measures continue.

‘If schools and universities are asked to close by the Government, the number of people working from home will surge in the coming days.’

Meanwhile in the West Midlands, Birmingham New Street train station was busy as usual but passengers spoke of ’emptier trains’ and lots of ‘hand sanitizer’. 

Paul Burne, 35, a father of two who works as a sales manager, said he had to reduce his travelling due to coronavirus.

He said: ‘I travel almost every day because of my work and I think trains are as busy as always, I can’t see a massive amount of change.

‘I haven’t seen many people taking any precautions apart from hand sanitizer. I try to be as hygienic as possible. I’m more careful of what I eat and try to keep fit and healthy.

‘I have already reduced my trips as much as I could, but am a bit more reluctant to travel to London due to the congestion so overall I’ve made some slight changes.’ 

Sophie Pearce, 18, a student, said: ‘I travel every day to go to college so I think I am more at risk. There are so many people on the train and you don’t know who’s washed their hands or not, who’s got it or not.

‘I would certainly not take the train at all and stay home if I could. Trains are busy as always I don’t think people have stopped travelling because of coronavirus’.

Another student, Jasmine Gardener, 18, said: ‘There aren’t many people taking precautions. I’ve only seen a few using hand sanitizer- as soon as someone coughs though, you notice everyone turning around.

‘I use hand sanitizer and wash my hands but I’m not that worried yet. If I could stay at home I would though, just because I get the train every day.’

The Government has now ordered school trips to be stopped and people over 70 with serious medical conditions not to go on cruises. 

Officials have also warned the advice is likely to develop so that entire households could be told to self-isolate.

The Government said it would not move to close schools yet as the evidence for its effectiveness is lacking, though this will be kept under review.

It is also considering banning large events, mostly due to the burden such events place on public services.

High-profile people to be diagnosed with Covid-19 include Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta and BT boss Philip Jansen.

Chelsea’s full squad has also gone into self-isolation after winger Callum Hudson-Odoi tested positive for coronavirus.

England’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said the peak of the outbreak is most likely still 10 to 14 weeks away.

He said it is feared people will become ‘fatigued’ by more stringent measures if they are brought in too soon and therefore they would lose their maximum effect.

The number of people who have tested positive for the virus in the UK rose to 596 while the death toll in British hospitals is ten.

A Rail Delivery Group spokesman said: ‘Our primary focus during the coronavirus outbreak is to keep our passengers and our people safe, and the country moving. 

‘While the government is not advising people to avoid public transport, unless they are showing symptoms of coronavirus, and rail companies are enhancing their cleaning on trains and at stations, we are seeing fewer people choosing to travel.’

Popular sites in London such as the Tate Modern and Tower of London have also been left deserted, along with shopping areas of Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street.

The Tate Modern’s iconic Turbine Hall was almost empty. The art gallery usually gets more than 15,000 visitors each day, according to the latest figures.

The National Theatre appeared deserted, despite several matinee showings. Staff members running a carousel by the London Eye said they feared they could go bust.

At the Shard – a chance to see a view of London from the UK’s highest building – only a couple of people waited in line, and staff members tried to hawk people from the street.

The Tower of London, where visitors wait to see the Crown Jewels, was also deserted. A tour guide said: ‘For the last two days it has been really quiet.’

She added that the tourist attraction had ‘contingency plans’ in place as more stringent measures in place. Meanwhile there was no queue at St Paul’s Cathedral.

Many venues have slapped up signs warning people to wash their hands more frequently, and be wary of the Coronavirus.

Meanwhile it emerged that a London Underground driver has tested positive for coronavirus. The man, who works on the Tube’s Jubilee Line, had been off work this week after returning from holiday in Vietnam.

An internal message to staff said the driver, based at the North Greenwich depot, had been self-isolating but had tested positive for Covid-19.

‘The operator is receiving support from health services and is continuing to follow Public Health England (PHE) advice to self-isolate.

‘The train operator has recently returned from a trip abroad, where it is thought the illness may have been contracted,’ said the memo.

A Transport for London spokesman said the driver was receiving support from health services, adding that he was not working in a customer-facing area.

‘The safety of our staff and customers is our top priority and we are taking all necessary precautions.

‘The areas where the driver worked are being cleaned, including the depot and the trains, in line with guidance from Public Health England with whom we are working closely.’

TfL has introduced an enhanced cleaning regime using additional substances to prevent the spread of the deadly virus on the city’s public transport.

The busiest stations and key interchanges are to being cleaned more regularly – even during the day.

And TfL is at the final stages of testing a new, long-lasting cleaning agent that would provide anti-viral protection for up to 30 days.

It hopes to begin using the new cleaner in the next couple of weeks, alongside specialist hygiene back-pack equipment to spray disinfectant across the network.

Two ex-Tory ministers today tore apart Boris Johnson’s ‘risky’ decision not to lockdown Britain to tackle the coronavirus ‘national emergency’ with Jeremy Hunt revealing he is ‘surprised and concerned’ and Rory Stewart calling the PM’s plans to allow millions to be infected ‘pessimistic’ and ‘defeatist’.

Mr Hunt, who is now chair of the Commons health and social care select committee, believes the PM must do more to encourage social distancing – and was particularly concerned care homes are not being told to ban visitors. 

Mr Stewart, who led the UK’s effort to fight ebola in Africa in 2019, said: ‘I think we can be very tough, and clear, [with the British public]. This is the worst pandemic we have had for 100 years.

‘The Government’s approach is essentially defeatist. They are saying we cannot suppress this. They say there is no point in spending a huge amount of money trying to suppress this, instead they are trying to manage the increase. We are taking far too much risk.

‘I think that is a dangerous thing to do. I don’t think if we allow this to spread it can be managed in that way.

‘And when you start getting serious numbers of people dying and the terrible choices that have to be made in hospitals, people will think that paying the cost early, now, was the right thing to do’.

Mr Stewart, who is running to be the next Mayor of London as an independent, added: ‘I’m absolutely confident that acting early is the better option. I would be shutting all schools and banning all gatherings immediately.

‘I think it is too pessimistic and defeatist and we should be taking the approach seen in China and South Korea that have actually reduced the number of cases. It can be done. It requires very tough and extreme measures.

‘The Government questions whether the public is up for the kind of measures we have seen in other countries. I disagree, I believe the British public will do what others have done’.

Debate is raging over whether the Prime Minister has gone far enough to protect the UK’s 66million people from the pandemic.

The official number of coronavirus cases in the UK yesterday jumped by 134 to 596 with 10 deaths – but the Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said the true number was probably up to 10,000 cases and growing rapidly. 

But Mr Johnson has still held off drastic measures enforced across Europe such as banning mass gatherings and closing schools, telling Britons that the most important measure remains to wash hands for 20 seconds – and told people to stay at home for seven days if they have a new persistent cough or a high temperature. A ban on flights to and from Europe – like the one announced by US President Donald Trump – was also dismissed by the Government yesterday. 

Asked about the decision not to cancel large gatherings yet, with 70,000 at Cheltenham for the Gold Cup today, Jeremy Hunt told the BBC’s Newsnight: ‘I think it is surprising and concerning that we’re not doing any of it at all when we have just four weeks before we get to the stage that Italy is at.’

He added: ‘The issue is not whether you or I might get infected at a football match, it’s who we go on to meet.’ 

English football’s leaders have taken matters in to their own hands today as players and managers fell ill, with all professional matches including the Premier League cancelled until April 3 at the earliest. 

Italy – the world’s worst-hit country after China – is in complete lockdown as the country’s tally of deaths has topped 1,000 with more than 15,000 patients infected by the virus. 

In response to the growing threat across Europe, Ireland yesterday closed all schools, colleges and nurseries and banned gatherings of more than 500 people. 

Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg last night put the country on a footing never seen in peacetime, despite having recorded no coronavirus deaths yet. Ms Solberg took all the Irish steps as well as banning all health workers from leaving the country, and forcing anyone returning from abroad into quarantine, including the king and queen who have been on a state visit to Jordan. 

But controversially the British Government appears to be pursuing a policy of ‘herd immunity’ – where the majority of the healthy population will get and fight off the virus so that the disease cannot be spread easily any more. The elderly and ill will be ‘cocooned’ from the outside world to protect them for weeks or even months. 

Critics have warned the policy is high risk because there have been multiple reports in China of people getting it twice – and concerns from experts that coronavirus could mutate and infect hundreds of thousands again in the coming years unless there is a vaccine.

In other developments today to the escalating global crisis, which has seen more than 131,000 patients across the world get infected: 

• A Chinese spokesman accused the US military of bringing the coronavirus to Wuhan – the Chinese city where the COVID-19 outbreak began at the end of December; 
• A 37-year-old US woman who beat the infection claimed she didn’t suffer the tell-tale symptom of a cough and instead only had a headache and tingling arms and legs;
• French President Emmanuel Macron declared the pandemic as France’s worst health crisis in a century and announced schools, universities and day-care centres would be shut from Monday;
• Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa ordered the shut-down of schools and universities and placed limits on the number of people in nightclubs, restaurants and shopping centres at any one time;
• Belgium announced the closure of all schools, restaurants, cafes and nightclubs and also banned recreational and sporting events in its fight to contain the growing epidemic; 
• Danish authorities called on shoppers to avoid excessive stockpiling after it closed schools and universities and suspended indoor events with more than 100 participants; 
• Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon revealed gatherings of 500 people or more would be stopped from Monday and school trips would be cancelled; 
• Germany shut nightclubs and schools after Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that up to 70 per cent of the country’s population – 58million people – could contract the coronavirus;
• Spain locked down four towns in Catalonia, shut schools and universities and suspended Parliament after its deputy prime minister was in self-isolation after his wife tested positive for the virus;
• An Italian medical chief died of the coronavirus at the age of 67, as the death toll in the country – the centre of Europe’s escalating crisis – jumped to over 1,000;
• Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the government will effectively ban ‘non essential’ public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday.

Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, has today defended the Government’s approach and its lack of hardline response along the lines seen across Europe.

He told Sky News: ‘We’ve got a panel of very world leading scientists across epidemiology, mathematical modelling, virology, clinicians, and we’re taking input from leading academics to try and come up with a plan that actually does what we want to do.

‘It doesn’t mean that the others are doing something wrong, and in fact much of the advice and much of the actions, if you look at them, they are trying to achieve the same thing.

‘And that is to try to reduce the peak of the epidemic, flatten it and broaden it so that you don’t end up with so much intense pressure on healthcare systems at one time’.

He added: ‘And mass gatherings of course are a place where you can potentially get infection from somebody, but the alternative is also important that if you’re not at a mass gathering, you’re at a small gathering, and most of the transmission of these types of viruses occur in small gatherings, not in big gatherings’. 

Sir Patrick insists that telling people with cold and flu-like symptoms to stay at home for a week will have an impact.

He said: ‘The measures that were announced, which is about self-isolation, even if you’ve got very mild symptoms, will mean a large number of people actually at home, being isolated because of this infection.

‘That’s a very big measure actually, it’s going to have quite a big impact across a number of households and a number of people, so I don’t think that’s a trivial measure at all.

‘And all the modelling suggests that these sorts of measures, and the other two that we discussed yesterday, the ones that have the biggest impact’.

Boris Johnson yesterday branded coronavirus the ‘worst public health crisis in a generation’ and warned that ‘many more’ people are going to die – but still held off drastic measures. 

Mr Hunt, chair of the Commons health and social care committee, said he was also ‘personally surprised that we’re still allowing external visits to care homes’. 

The Prime Minister said it was clear the disease will continue to spread around the world and people should brace for the ‘reality’ of ‘severe disruption’ for many months.

At a press conference in Westminster, Mr Johnson formally declared that the UK’s tactics have shifted from ‘containing’ the killer disease to merely ‘delaying’ its inevitable spread, after he chaired a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee. 

The Government’s new plan urges anyone with even mild coronavirus-like symptoms – a persistent cough or a fever – to quarantine themselves at home and to sleep alone if possible and stay at least two metres from relatives.

The PM has also recommended all overseas school trips be cancelled while people over the age of 70 or those with pre-existing serious medical conditions have been told not to go on cruises.

But he stopped short of more extreme measures such as closing schools and banning mass gatherings which have been adopted in Ireland, Norway, France and Italy in an effort to stem the spread of the virus. 

‘At all stages we have been guided by the science. We will do the right thing at the right time,’ Mr Johnson said.   

The number of UK cases has risen by 130 and the death toll hit 10 in the last 24 hours, with experts increasingly bracing for turmoil as the overwhelming majority of the population becomes infected and the country develops ‘herd immunity’. 

But chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said he believed the true number of infections was likely to be 5,000-10,000 already. He estimated that the UK was four weeks behind the trajectory of the crisis in Italy – which has brought the country to its knees.

The peak of the outbreak in the UK might not come for 10-14 weeks, the experts said – suggesting it will run into June. 

Mr Johnson insisted comparisons to seasonal flu were wrong. 

‘This is more dangerous and it’s going to spread further. And I must level with you and the British public: more families, many more families, are going to lose loved ones before their time,’ he said. 

Despite the bloodcurdling warnings, Mr Johnson said the UK would not close schools yet even though government advisers admitted the move would help stem the outbreak. 

Advisers said the length of closure necessary to make the measure work could be more than 16 weeks and would at this stage therefore not be feasible. 

Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said it was not realistic to expect children to be cooped up that long. 

He said: ‘It is true that there is some effect in closing schools but that effect is minimal and actually you would have to do it for 13 to 16 weeks or longer.

‘You do not have to be a very advanced mathematician to work out that the chances of keeping children not speaking to each other or playing with each other are zero.’

Closing down schools could also put elderly grandparents at risk if they were asked to look after children, who are believed to be less susceptible to the most severe form of the disease but can still spread it.

‘The scientific advice is that this could do more harm than good,’ Mr Johnson said. 

‘But we are keeping this under review and this could change as the disease spreads. Schools should only close if they are specifically advised to do so.’

Mr Johnson conceded that Scotland was already banning mass gatherings, but suggested there was a ‘particular issue with the resilience of their public services’ north of the border, in a perceived swipe at Nicola Sturgeon after she undermined him by announcing her plans first.

‘We are not saying no to that sort of measures, of course not,’ Mr Johnson said. ‘We are keeping it up our sleeves. But it is very important… that we get the timing right.’ 

Chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty added: ‘We need to do it at the last point it is reasonable so people maintain their energy and enthusiasm… it is important we do not ask our fellow citizens to do it for longer than makes sense.’ 

The FTSE plunged by more than 10 per cent yesterday in response to the dramatic US announcement of a travel ban from Europe overnight, and growing global chaos. 

And in the latest high-profile victim of the outbreak, BT’s chief executive, Philip Jansen, tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

‘Having felt slightly unwell I decided as a precaution to be tested. As soon as the test results were known I isolated myself at home,’ Jansen said in a statement. ‘I’ve met several industry partners this week so felt it was the responsible thing to do to alert them to this fact as soon as I could.’

Jansen said his symptoms seemed mild and he would work remotely over the coming week, avoiding disruption to the business of Britain’s biggest telecoms group. 

The UK approach is increasingly at odds with that of other countries, with Ireland joining the list of those closing all schools and colleges and banning mass gatherings. 

In the first sign of splits within the UK, Nicola Sturgeon has declared that Scotland will also cancelling events with more than 500 people from the start of next week, saying that they take up too much time for emergency services.

She admitted: ‘These are not easy judgements. They are difficult and complicated.’

The government has also made clear it will not follow Donald Trump’s dramatic overnight move of closing the borders to travellers from mainland Europe. 

Instead Mr Johnson seems determined to take a limited response, asking those with a cold to self-quarantine, and urge vulnerable elderly people to stay indoors.

Former Cabinet minister Rory Stewart this afternoon accused the PM of ‘smug insular complacency, warning that without quick action there could be 100,000 cases in the UK within the next 24 days.

‘This is at risk of becoming an example of smug insular complacency – refusing to pay any attention to what any other country is doing or the successful public health approach in Asia,’ the London Mayor hopeful said. ‘We should show some humility, learn from others and act now.’  

On another day of frantic activity by politicians and health experts around the globe: 

 

• Irish PM Leo Varadkar has declared that schools, colleges and childcare facilities are to close for two weeks;
• Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon declared that she is ‘minded’ to cancel mass gatherings of over 500 people from the start of next week to avoid them sucking up resources for police and health workers;
• The US Congress is shutting the Capitol, House and Senate office buildings to public until April 1 in reaction to coronavirus; 
• The Electoral Commission has called for the local and mayoral polls due in May to be postponed until the Autumn; 
• The UK and the EU jointly announced that face to face Brexit trade talks next week would not go ahead as planned but they could be conducted using video technology;
• The FTSE 100 fell by more than 9 per cent as investors were rattled by US travel restrictions imposed by in an attempt to halt the pandemic; 
• The Czech Republic is closing its borders to travellers crossing from Germany and Austria and also banning the entry of foreigners coming from other risky countries to contain the coronavirus outbreak;
• Norway and Lithuania are shutting down nurseries, schools and universities for at least two weeks, and Oslo has told workers to stay at least one metre apart in offices;
• Labour has cancelled a conference to announce the results of its leadership contest, saying the replacement for Jeremy Corbyn will now be declared at a ‘scaled back’ event on April 4; 
• Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has self-isolated while his wife awaits the results of a coronavirus test; 
• The WHO warned that the travel ban announced by Mr Trump will do little to help combat coronavirus in the UK and could backfire by making people complacent; 
• Mr Sunak said he made ‘no apology’ for turning on the spending taps to counter the effects of the virus on the UK economy and society; 
• A Cabinet minister is awaiting the results of a coronavirus test, with four other MPs in quarantine after health minister Nadine Dorries became the first politician to be diagnosed with the disease; 
• Tube and transport systems were quieter than usual as the public preempted the expected advice from government on restricting social contact;
• Sporting events have been called off, with golf set to be played without crowds and the tennis tour put on hold for six weeks; 
• Sittings in Parliament could be scaled back and the authorities are considering closing to visitors amid fears of spread on the estate. 

Ms Sturgeon said this evening that Scotland was shutting down public events ‘that have the potential to have an impact on our frontline emergency services’.

‘This is not a move that we are making because the science has told us it will have a significant impact on the spread of the virus: on the contrary, the scientists tell us it will not have a significant impact on the spread of the virus – although no significant impact does not equate to no impact at all,’ she said.

‘But there are wider reasons that I consider and have judged that are important in reaching this decision.’

‘Certain events, whether or not they need dedicated ambulance cover, we know that certain events have an impact on our policing and our front-line health services, accident and emergency and ambulance services.

‘At a time when pressure on those services is going to be considerable … it is incumbent on government to do what we can to remove unnecessary burdens on our public services.’

The decision is set to come into force the day after Rangers host Celtic in one of this weekend’s Ladbrokes Premiership fixtures, with the champions currently 13 points clear of their rivals.

Prof Whitty said the UK would not be introducing social distancing measures yet as it was not the right moment within the pandemic.

But he warned that advice would be coming for elderly and vulnerable people to isolate themselves from social gatherings.

He said: ‘The next stage along we are going to want to do a package of things that are about putting social distancing around the people who are older and those with severe health conditions.

‘But we do not think it is appropriate to make a national recommendation for that at the moment because it is too early in the course of the epidemic.

‘If you think about what would happen if you prematurely put elderly or vulnerable in a situation where you’re saying, we really want to cut down on your social interactions, to cut back on your contact with others, it has big practical implications for them and may lead to loneliness and other issues which are clearly very undesirable for them.

‘While we will need to move to that stage, we do not think this is the right moment along the pandemic to do so. But that point will come.’

Eariler, Mr Johnson swiped at political leaders who do not ‘follow the science’. 

In comments made before Mr Trump’s announcement, he said many leaders were ‘under a lot of pressure to be seen to act’. 

Asked whether the PM knew of Mr Trump’s escalation in advance, Downing Street said: ‘UK and US officials are in regular contact.’  

To fight what is now officially a global pandemic, the Budget handed hospitals a £5billion fighting fund while thousands of firms will be given a business rates holiday to help avert the risk of bankruptcy.

Sick pay will be reformed to ensure that employees are not penalised for going into quarantine. 

In a round of interviews, Mr Sunak told the BBC: ‘I make absolutely no apology for responding in the short term in scale to the immediate threat that we face from coronavirus. 

‘I think that’s the right thing to do for the economy, we need to help businesses have a bridge to get to the other side.’

His package came as the Bank of England’s base rate was slashed to an historic low of just 0.25 per cent.   

Irish PM Leo Varadkar has declared that schools, colleges and childcare facilities are to close for two weeks.

He made a live statement to the nation from Washington DC, where he is due to meet Mr Trump later as part of the annual St Patrick’s Day programme of events. 

‘Unfortunately we must face the tragic reality that some people will die,’ he said.

Mr Varadkar said he was acting on fresh advice from the country’s National Public Health Emergency Team.

‘The virus is all over the world, it will continue to spread but it can be slowed,’ he said. 

Dr David Halpern, head of the UK’s Behavioural Insights Team dubbed Britain’s ‘Nudge Unit’ who reports directly to Mr Johnson, has suggested the 500,000 people in UK care homes or with respiratory conditions could be the only people protected.

He has suggested the virus can be beaten by letting it spread through healthy people to kill it off rather than a nationwide lockdown that could allow coronavirus to rise again later in the year.

Dr Halpern has revealed ministers are considering a policy of keeping high-risk groups such as the elderly or those with underlying health conditions isolated in care homes or in their own homes over the coming months.

He said: ‘There’s going to be a point, assuming the epidemic flows and grows as it will do, where you want to cocoon, to protect those at-risk groups so they don’t catch the disease.

‘By the time they come out of their cocooning, herd immunity has been achieved in the rest of the population’.  

Deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries was asked on the BBC if ‘pretty much everyone will get it eventually’.

‘The thing about a new virus is, of course, nobody has antibodies ready-made to it. This virus is having a field day, the desire will be to infect as many people as it can,’ she said.

Dr Harries said it was possible that ‘up to 80 per cent of the population’ could contract the virus, but added that it was a ‘very high estimate’.

Scottish First minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was not possible to make the virus ‘go away’.

‘This is a serious situation. We cannot make this virus go away. It is highly likely now that significant numbers of us are going to get this virus,’ she said.

‘The vast majority will have very mild illness and the clear focus right now is on doing everything we can to protect those who are more susceptible to serious illness, but we cannot make this go away, we need to focus on how we manage this outbreak, delay the spread and reduce the numbers infected at any one time.’

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme there is ‘no doubt we are not going to be able to contain it for very much longer’ and that efforts will now focus on delaying the spread of the virus to ‘put less pressure on the NHS’. 

Speaking hours after world health officials declared the coronavirus a pandemic, Trump repeatedly defended his own actions and vowed the nation would prevail in countering the virus and getting treatment on the market.

‘We will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days,’ Trump announced, in a speech from the Oval Office to the nation. 

‘The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight,’ he said. 

The move was so sudden the acting Homeland Security secretary said he would issue full guidance on how to carry it out within 48 hours.

The White House said the travel restrictions would apply to foreign nationals who have visited 26 European countries – but excluding the UK and Ireland – in the past 14 days. 

It will not apply to US citizens, their ‘immediate’ family members or legal permanent residents. But confusion remained over how exactly the rules would apply and in what time zone the deadline would be introduced. 

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the UK was not following the US example.

‘The advice we are getting is that there is not evidence that interventions like closing borders or travel bans are going to have a material effect on the spread of the infections,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. 

‘That is why we have taken the decisions that we have.’ 

A video posted on the No10 Twitter feed yesterday shows Mr Johnson chatting with Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jenny Harries.

Mr Johnson said: ‘It’s noticeable that there are some countries where they have banned big sporting events and stopped mass gatherings of one kind or another. Tell us why so far the medical advice in this country is not to do that?’

Dr Harries replied that ‘expert modellers’ had looked at what would happen with the virus. 

‘In general those sorts of events and big gatherings are not seen as something that is going to have a big effect. So we don’t want to disrupt people’s lives,’ she said.

The FTSE index of Britain’s leading companies fell 365 points or 6.22 per cent to 5,511 shortly after opening – its lowest level since February 2016.

The falls were in reaction to Mr Trump’s intervention, and came despite the Bank of England slashing interest rates from 0.75 per cent to 0.25 per cent and the Budget plan. 

Speaking before Mr Trump’s speech last night, Mr Johnson said: ‘There’s obviously people under a lot pf pressure – politicians government around the world under a lot of pressure to be seen to act. So they may do things that are not necessarily dictated by the science.’

Dr Harries said: ‘I am absolutely delighted that we are following the science and the evidence.’ 

She added: ‘We have got very clear advice about when we should intervene and that is exactly what I think we should do.’ 

Mr Sunak admitted yesterday that the epidemic was now likely to cause ‘temporary disruption to the economy’, with millions of workers having to take time off sick, firms struggling with supply problems and shops and restaurants hit by a dramatic fall in trade.

‘The combination of those effects will have a significant impact on the UK economy,’ he said. ‘But it will be temporary. People will return to work.

‘Supply chains will return to normal. Life will return to normal. For a period, it’s going to be tough. But I’m confident that our economic performance will recover.’

The emergency package, which was only finalised in the early hours of yesterday, overshadowed a series of massive spending decisions that set the Government’s economic course for the next four years.

Mr Sunak pledged to increase total spending by 22 per cent by 2024, taking the size of the state to more than £1trillion for the first time. 

Much of the spending will be fuelled by borrowing, with the national debt now on track to top £2trillion by the time of the next election.

There will be a rise in the threshold for paying national insurance that delivers an immediate £100 tax cut for 31million workers. 

The OBR yesterday warned that the coronavirus could lead to a prolonged slowdown, adding: ‘Recession this year is quite possible if the spread of coronavirus causes widespread economic disruption.’ 

Mr Sunak said he was ready to make further interventions to ensure that good businesses were not driven to the wall.

He said yesterday’s £30billion package comprised £12billion of direct spending and £18billion of broader stimulus to the economy.

‘While the world may slow down, we will act here with a response that is brave and bold, taking decisions now for our future prosperity,’ the Chancellor added. ‘We are investing in world class infrastructure, and to lead the world in the industries and technologies of the future.’

Mr Sunak said the ‘central decision’ was to increase spending over existing plans by £175billion.

The overall tax burden will not rise, mainly because of a decision to abandon a cut in corporation tax. The Treasury admitted the spending might not meet earlier fiscal rules.

Some senior Tories voiced reservations. Theresa May said the Conservatives must never fall into Labour’s trap of believing that all problems could be fixed by unconstrained spending.

The former prime minister added: ‘While spending a lot of money may be popular and may seem the natural thing to do, there is of course that necessity of having a realistic assessment of the longer-term impact.

‘[There is] a necessity to ensure that we have that restraint and caution that enables us to make sure the public finances continue to be strong into the future.’