REUTERS/Simon Dawson/Pool
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson
- UK citizens told to work from home and avoid all social contact as Prime Minister Boris Johnson seeks to slow the rapid spread of the coronavirus across the country.
- "We need people to start working from home where they can and you should avoid pubs, clubs and other venues," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
- Anyone living with somebody experiencing coronavirus symptoms should isolate themselves for 14 days.
- Here's how the coronavirus is spreading in Britain.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
British people have been told to work at home and limit all non-essential human contact as the coronavirus spreads rapidly across the United Kingdom.
"Now is the time for everyone to stop non-essential contact with others, and to stop all non-essential travel," UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at a press conference on Monday.
"We need people to start working from home where they can and you should avoid pubs, clubs and other venues."
Johnson said that anyone living in a household where an individual within that household had experienced symptoms of the coronavirus should isolate themselves for 14 days.
Johnson said the guidance applied especially to "people over 70-years-old, pregnant women and for those with some health conditions"
He said the government would soon implement new advice that anyone with a serious health condition should isolate themselves for at least three months.
"By this weekend - it will be necessary to go further, and to ensure that those with the most serious health conditions are largely shielded from social contact for around 12 weeks," he said.
"And again, the reason for doing this in the next few days rather than earlier or later is that this is going to be very disruptive for people who have such conditions, but I believe it's now necessary."
Mass gatherings will no longer be supported by the government.
"As we advise against unnecessary social contact of all kinds, it's right that we should extend that advice to mass gatherings as well," Johnson said.
"So we've also got to ensure that we have the critical workers we need that might otherwise be deployed at those gatherings to deal with this emergency."
The Prime Minister defended what he described as the "draconian" measures as being necessary to slow the spread of the virus.
"Many people, including fit and active people over 70, may feel listening to what I've just said that there is something excessive about these measures. But I have to say I believe they are overwhelmingly worth it to slow the spread of the disease, to reduce the peak, to save lives, minimise suffering, and to give our NHS the chance to cope."
The UK has experienced a surge in recorded cases over the past week, with the total number of cases rising to 1,543 on Monday with 36 fatalities.
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