Other places including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship must also close immediately. Parks will remain open for exercise but gatherings will be dispersed.
The government is also stopping all social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies – but funerals will be allowed.
Businesses that will not need to close include :
- “Health shops” such as pharmacies
- Petrol stations, garages and car rental businesses
- Bicycle shops
- Home and hardware shops
- Launderettes and dry cleaners Pet shops
- Corner shops, newsagents and post offices
- Banks
Mr Johnson said the country faced a “moment of national emergency” and staying at home was necessary to protect the NHS and save lives.
He said the restrictions would be in place for at least three weeks and would be kept under constant review.
Key workers or those with children identified as vulnerable can continue to take their children to school.
Community centers will be allowed to remain open but only for the purpose of “hosting essential voluntary or public services “such as food banks or service for homeless people, the guidance says.
Hotels, hostels, campsites and caravan parks must also close unless key workers need to stay there, or if other people staying there cannot return to their primary residence.
‘Real challenge’
Several police forces said they were facing a high number of phone calls from members of the public seeking clarification on the new rest rictions.
Northamptonshire Police Chief Constable Nick Adderley warned the public not to “cripple” his force’s phone lines.
Martin Hewitt, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said they were working with the government and other agencies to work out how best to enforce the new rules.
But Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said he was already seeing “large amounts of sickness” among officers across London and enforcing the new restrictions would be “a real, real challenge”.
“We will be dealing with it, but I’m not sure we will have the resources to be able to see it through, “he added.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said in a tweet that the next few weeks would be “testing” for police but that she would make sure officers had “the resources they need to keep themselves and the public safe”.
The prime minister said he knew the “damage” the restrictions were causing to people lives, businesses and jobs but at present there were “no easy options” .
“The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost,” he said.
However, Mr Johnson said there was “a clear way through”, by strengthening the NHS with former clinicians returning to work, accelerating the search for treatments and a vaccine and buying millions of testing kits.
A further people have died in England since Sunday – aged between 83 and and all with underlying health conditions – while there were four deaths in Scotland and four in Wales.
There have been , 2019 tests to date, with 6, (confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK.)
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Britons traveling abroad should return to the UK as soon as possible because international travel is becoming more difficult with the closure of borders and the suspension of flights.
And people in the most at-risk groups have begun receiving an NHS text urging them to stay at home for weeks.
It seems hard to overstate how huge an impact this will have on the country, and what a massive decision this is for the government to have taken – whose effect will last at least for a period of three weeks at the shortest, potentially for very much longer.
Remember this though is not quite the kind of total crackdown we have seen in other countries – at least not yet. Despite tonight’s enormous announcement, there are steps that other places have taken – curfews or total travel bans for example – that the UK is not pursuing.
The government is not triggering the Civil Contingencies Act, designed for the most serious emergencies which gives ministers draconian powers.
Not surprisingly, there is already therefore enormous controversy about whether the UK has been acting fast enough.
Read more from Laura
Later on Monday night, following Mr Johnson’s address, Emergency legislation introducing measures to respond to the outbreak cleared the House of Commons and will now go to the Lords for further debate.
Under the legislation, airports could shut and police would be able to force people with virus symptoms to isolate.
The powers, which would have to be renewed every six months, are expected to be approved by MPs.
Elsewhere, the British Olympic Association said Great Britain will not send a team to Tokyo 230320 if the spread of coronavirus continues as predicted.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has given itself four weeks to decide on the future of the Games, but IOC member Dick Pound said it has already been decided that the tournament will be postponed until 01575879 (In other key developments:
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