E3: UK coronavirus live: government discussing new London clampdown on pubs, cinemas and gyms
All the day’s developments as schools across the UK close their doors
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The government was today actively discussing a new clampdown on London with pubs, cinemas and gyms possibly being ordered to close to stop the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
An announcement could be made within hours, after crisis planners became increasingly concerned that too many people were continuing to ignore social distancing advice, making the spread of the virus more likely.
Giving her daily briefing, Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said that it was not helpful to use words like “lockdown”, which only confused the public, but added that “it should not be assumed that what we are asking people to do now will not become stricter in the future”.
There are 56 new cases in Scotland overnight but no change in the number of deaths.
The number of Scots who have been diagnosed with coronavirus has grown by 56 since yesterday to 322. Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon revealed the new total during a briefing on the outbreak.
Schools across Scotland will close today as part of an effort to combat the spread of the disease.
Agencies recruiting seasonal workers to pick the fruit and vegetables that will help feed the nation have issued an urgent call for British people to sign up to work.
Normally, 99% of the 80,000 workers come from abroad, mostly from eastern Europe. But travel restrictions and anxieties about the coronavirus pandemic have led many workers to cancel.
We urgently need a UK labour force who can help harvest crops to feed the nation. At a time when international travel is restricted and people are panic buying due to the coronavirus, it is crucial that growers can provide enough British produce to our supermarkets and local shops.
We are aware that there are many people facing sustained periods away from their usual employment or studies and Hops can offer paid positions.
Growers that rely on seasonal workers to pick, pack and grade our fruit and veg are extremely concerned. The industry is already working hard to promote available roles on farms locally, recognising that this could help those who unfortunately find themselves out of work. We are urging the government to address this situation as soon as possible and to implement any solution as a matter of urgency.
This crisis highlights the vulnerability of our globalised food system. We demand immediate and significant government action to ensure everyone can access healthy, affordable food; to secure our food supply; and to guarantee people and small businesses get the help they need to survive this crisis.
National Express is advising passengers to check online before they travel as it introduces an extensive reduction to its timetable with effect from 00:01 Tuesday 24 March 2020.
This follows the news yesterday that the coach operator will be temporarily running limited services across its scheduled national network in response to the impact of the coronavirus.
We will do our best to let customers know about the changes but strongly advise that if they still intend to travel, to check the National Express website before they start their journey.
For any passengers that turn up to find their service no longer running, we will accept their ticket on any available alternative service or accommodate their travel by other means.
A Scottish hotel has sacked more than a dozen members of staff over the coronavirus outbreak, making them homeless, our Scotland correspondent, Libby Brooks, reports.
The workers at the Coylumbridge hotel near Aviemore received a letter yesterday informing them management was “taking the latest government advice” and that staff employment had been terminated, with those who live at the hotel complex asked to leave the premises immediately.
Related: Scottish hotel sacks 12 staff over coronavirus making them homeless
The Guardian’s editor-in-chief, Katherine Viner, has written to readers about how we aim to cover the coronavirus crisis, emphasising the value of expertise, scientific knowledge and careful judgment in our reporting.
She writes:
With you, we are trying to face this unsettling moment with fortitude, and we’re remembering our history – the Guardian and Observer continued to publish throughout the 1918 flu pandemic and both world wars, and we will do our best to do the same during this global coronavirus pandemic.
Related: Coronavirus: the Guardian's promise to our readers
Supermarket Lidl has announced plans to recruit 2,500 workers on four-week contracts to help keep up with high demand in stores as customers continue clearing shelves over the coronavirus outbreak.
The grocer said recruits can start immediately and will be paid at least £9.30 an hour, adding “the new hires will be responsible for working together to keep the store clean, tidy and the shelves well stocked so that customers can get the products they need”.
Police chiefs have today asked employers to give workers who volunteer as special constables paid leave during the coronavirus crisis.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council say the move will boost the number of volunteers available, with police ranks expected to be depleted by illness and self-isolation in the coming months.
Our Special Constables play a vital role in the police service, a service which will be placed under great strain over the coming months.
We appreciate that this would be placing a further burden on businesses who are already suffering the economic impact of this virus, and we do not make this appeal lightly.
The government has made public the scientific evidence from SAGE that has been supporting its response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The evidence feeding into the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies #SAGE is now live. This is supporting the government response to #COVID19 https://t.co/Ya9VYyIVeu pic.twitter.com/ImxLZSKeFg
Covid-19 patients are being turned away by Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust as demand for lifesaving treatment surges, the Telegraph is reporting (paywall).
The news comes as the death toll in London rose more sharply than the rest of the country, with figures revealing yesterday that four in 10 coronavirus-related deaths so far in the UK have been in London.
First details of the cuts to train services show around 50% of the timetable is expected to be cut initially, although decisions are being left to individual operators.
All train companies nationwide are expected to have new timetables published for next week available on National Rail by Sunday lunchtime, 22 March.
The message from the government is clear – travel only if you have to. The changes we are making should allow us to sustain a timetable for those who absolutely have to travel such as doctors, nurses and the emergency services.
Farmers and farmworkers have been included on a list of key workers whose children can still go to school during the coronavirus crisis.
According to Farmers Weekly: “Some pointed out the irony of farmers and farmworkers being catapulted in just two weeks from ‘unskilled workers’ in the government’s post-Brexit immigration list to ‘key workers’ in the response to the coronavirus pandemic.”
The competition watchdog has said it will clamp down on retailers using the coronavirus outbreak as an opportunity to exploit customers.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the outbreak has prompted concerns that people could be exploited by companies “charging excessive prices or making misleading claims about their products”.
Related: eBay urged to clamp down on coronavirus profiteering
A letter to the chancellor calling for the introduction of a universal basic income to deal with the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak has been signed by 150 MPs.
The Labour MP for Enfield, Feryal Clark, tweeted a copy of the letter, which said the crisis “must act as a catalyst for innovative and bold solutions”.
150 cross-party MPs have written to the Chancellor calling on him to use Universal Basic Income payments to ensure everyone has money in their pockets during the #Coronavirus public health and economic crisis.
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures pic.twitter.com/puGWyFCnDI
Our economy has seen a fundamental shift since 2008. The number of self-employed has risen from 3.25 million to more than five million people.
The app-based driver is not paid when there is no work. Nor is the zero-hours warehouse worker, the children’s entertainer or the agency-supplied care worker.
Myself and 500 other academics and public figures are calling for #EmergencyUBI https://t.co/feP3df9pyp
One of London’s most famous live music venues which has hosted David Bowie, Adele and Amy Winehouse is to reopen on Monday as a hub for the local coronavirus response.
The Union Chapel in Islington has cancelled forthcoming performances but will become the base for the local Covid-19 task force supporting rough sleepers. It will host a food bank and an initiative to proactively contact the most vulnerable people who may be in self-isloation.
Staff including sound and lighting engineers will be asked if they want to take roles helping handle and distribute donations of food, but particularly hand sanitiser and soap which they plan to distribute to rough sleepers.
The venue, which doubles as a non-conformist church, will also periodically open bathrooms to allow rough sleepers to wash themselves regularly to reduce the risk of contracting the virus.
The food and soap collection and distribution is being operated with Islington Council, the Museum of Homelessness, and Streets Kitchen, while the venue will work with the charity Help on Your Doorstep to contact the vulnerable in isolation.
Since 1992, when first registered as a charity, Union Chapel has been home to a number of very special services and activities aimed at aiding the most in-need and disadvantaged members of our community.
These services are largely funded by the profits from the venue’s ticket sales and our events. During this crisis Union Chapel will escalate our community emergency support work, continuing to aid those in need.
The British Fashion Council, the not-for-profit organisation that promotes British design globally, has put a call out asking those with “production capacity” to help with shortages.
Imperfect Solutions — wanttohelp@yourfriendsin.nyc
A third person has died in Wales after contracting coronavirus, the chief medical officer for the country has confirmed.
They were aged 71 and had underlying health conditions, and were being treated at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Bridgend.
The Police Federation has called for officers in Northern Ireland to be tested for Covid-19 amid fears the spread of the virus could result in a skeleton workforce.
The representative body for Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers has also called for personal protective equipment to be made available for officers, including masks, gloves and scenes-of-crime white suits, as well as “spit and bite guards”.
We are not as well-resourced as other parts of the UK. We do not have cadets. We do not have access to military, so, we are very much left on our own.
It is therefore imperative that testing for police officers is brought in without any further delay. This will increase workforce resilience and will be a major factor in ensuring that our officers can remain at work.
There is still a lot of confusion about provision of school places for the children of key workers.
What we do know however is that the government has now clarified in its latest advice that households with at least one parent or carer identified as a critical or key worker will be able to send their children to school if necessary.
After the Department for Education issued its guidance on occupations to be classed as key workers who qualify for childcare in school over the coming weeks and months, school and business leaders have reacted with their concerns.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said parents should keep their children at home if possible from Monday, and to only send them to school if there was no safe alternative:
The key worker list is extensive and schools will not be able to cope with the number of children who could potentially arrive on Monday morning. It is important that the public understands that this is not business as usual.
Schools will endeavour to do their best to provide continuity of learning for all children whether at home or in school, but the provision in school is likely to be more akin to childcare than a normal timetable.
Defining which workers are critical to the national effort is a difficult task. Today’s list will help business and individuals to plan. But the need for different jobs will change in the weeks ahead, so the list must be kept under constant review with additions where necessary.
The World Snooker Championship has been postponed until at least July, PA reports.
#Breaking This year’s Betfred World Snooker Championship has been postponed due to coronavirus, with the World Snooker Tour saying in a statement it intends to host the tournament at the Crucible in July or August pic.twitter.com/A0BITtxu9L
The installation of the next Fourth Plinth sculpture in Trafalgar Square has been postponed because of coronavirus.
Heather Phillipson’s The End - a sculpture of a whirl of cream topped with parasites - was due to be installed on 26 March.
Anywhere but Westminster is back, and needs your help covering the impact of the coronavirus outbreak across the UK.
Related: Anywhere but Westminster: we need your help covering the coronavirus
The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace and Windsor Castle has been cancelled until further notice, ITV’s royal editor Chris Ship reports.
The world famous Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace is cancelled until further notice pic.twitter.com/L42RVqZkMA
A man has been arrested on the Isle of Man for allegedly failing to self-isolate.
The detention of the man, reportedly aged 26, came after the Crown dependency’s government announced earlier this week that everyone arriving on the island must self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of whether they have symptoms.
The coronavirus crisis could push the vulnerable ambulance service over the edge, writes NHS paramedic Jake Jones.
Coronavirus is currently having a serious impact on the ambulance service. Call numbers are soaring, interactions with patients are changing, and staff on the road and in the control centres are under acute pressure. At a time when most people are distancing themselves from others, ambulance crews are doing what they always do: going into the homes of sick and vulnerable strangers to offer help.
Related: I'm an NHS paramedic. Coronavirus could push our struggling service over the edge | Jake Jones
The Rugby Football Union has announced the end of the season for all league, cup and county rugby in England, except the Gallagher Premiership, PA reports.
#Breaking The Rugby Football Union has announced the end of the season for all league, cup and county rugby in England, with the exception of the Gallagher Premiership pic.twitter.com/9OQtPlloJa
The UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, is self-isolating after showing symptoms of coronavirus.
The news, which was reported by various sources today and attributed to the UK government, comes after Frost’s EU counterpart, Michel Barnier, said he had tested positive for the disease yesterday.
The chief negotiators on both sides are now in isolationhttps://t.co/PKB46v9Cxl via @bpolitics
If you had any reservations about the government’s response to the crisis, Politico’s Jack Blanchard has highlighted its capacity to copy and paste is still going strong, to put your mind at ease.
Not saying the Coronavirus Bill explainer is a rush job, but pic.twitter.com/ZhNcyeN1nb
A critical care nurse has made a tearful appeal to members of the public to stop stripping supermarket shelves of food after she came off a shift and was unable to buy supplies for her family.
“Those people who are stripping the shelves of basic foods. You just need to stop it because it is people like me who will be looking after you when you are at your lowest, so just stop it,” said the nurse, named as Dawn.
Critical care nurse Dawn has pleaded for the public to "stop it" after being faced with empty supermarket shelves following a 48-hour shift. pic.twitter.com/1sQHM2U5Ba
The British Museum has seen a surge in online visitors with the Benin Bronzes and the Lewis Chessmen in the top 10 of searches.
Culture gives comfort in times of turmoil, it unites us and makes us understand what it means to be human. As the world grapples with this current crisis, I am glad that so many people are coming to the website and online collections of the British Museum.
Did you know you can #MuseumFromHome on @Google Street View?
Explore the galleries and find your favourite objects wherever you are – start a virtual visit by dropping in to Room 41 to see finds from Sutton Hoo: https://t.co/mVitUCO2Uv pic.twitter.com/nbRSvWXZmz
Sales at Wetherspoons have been falling after Boris Johnson told members of the public to stay at home and not visit pubs.
The pub chain said that sales, which had risen by 3.2% in the previous six weeks, started falling by 4.5% in the week ending March 15, as the coronavirus pandemic scared customers off.
We come into contact all day with the general public, we handle money, dirty plates, glasses, sometimes bodily fluids, and the fact we can’t wear a mask/gloves front of house is making people feel on edge. We of course are washing our hands as often as possible but it’s just bizarre we aren’t allowed to protect ourselves.
An iconic Italian deli which has served London for more than 75 years is raising money so it can supply pasta and sauce to people in need amid the coronavirus crisis, reports London’s Evening Standard.
Lina Stores, which has a site in Soho and another in King’s Cross, wants to make provisions for hospitality staff whose jobs have been cut and people in at risk groups.
Well, this is amazing. Iconic Lina Stores in Soho is raising money to supply pasta and sauce to people in need amid the coronavirus crisis, reports @EveningStandard London's Evening Standard.
Here's the Go Fund me page: https://t.co/DYLFjSfMFC pic.twitter.com/EJQI4dHlbE
Rail services in Scotland will move to a reduced timetable from Monday 23 March onwards as people follow the extraordinary advice to limit social contact and stay at home.
Network Rail Scotland and ScotRail announced they would be operating a reduced service so emergency staff can travel and emergency supplies such as medicines can be moved around the country.
BT is to remove all caps on home broadband plans to give customers unlimited data while working from home or self-isolating.
This is just the start of what we’re doing at @bt_uk in response to Coronavirus. We're here to help. Let's all look after each other.
You can read more about all the things we're doing at @bt_uk here: https://t.co/IhySBYMW07 pic.twitter.com/s6KTQwEaZw
Questions remain unanswered about how school places will remain open to the children of key workers, Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the NAHT, the school leaders’ union, has said.
In a statement he said:
The government has made clear that every child who can be safely cared for at home should be. And their advice makes clear too that this applies to children of key workers.
For the vast majority of children and young people, school buildings will close tonight and not reopen for the foreseeable future.
"Taking up a place at school during this time of wider closure is the offer of last resort, for the minority of key workers, who have no alternative."@PaulWhiteman6 comments on school provision during #covid19UK #schoolclosuresuk https://t.co/mxO6QHbGZl pic.twitter.com/dl5seZ5KL4
The Conservative MP for Lewes, Maria Caulfield, has said she will be returning to the NHS to support efforts to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
I will be returning to the front line in the NHS to support the fight against the Coronavirus , important we all help where we can @MattHancock https://t.co/39UFerXpkA
We’re calling on nurses and doctors who’ve recently left the NHS to return.
We need you now as part of the national effort to fight coronavirushttps://t.co/eMzDyXe11q
Good morning. As schools close to most children across the UK today, the government has published a list of key workers whose children will still be able to go to school, following some confusion over who would be classed as a “key worker” after the announcement on Wednesday. It includes doctors, nurses, midwives, teachers, nursery staff, police, transport workers and others.
Later, at the daily coronavirus press conference, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is set to announce an employment and wage subsidy package to try to protect millions of jobs, with many firms including Marks & Spencer and Next warning of collapse. Letters are also being sent to more than 65,000 retired doctors and nurses in England and Wales asking them to come back to help the NHS fight the outbreak. Train services across Britain are to be stripped back from Monday after Covid-19 caused a 70% drop in the number of passengers. And the Catholic Church will suspend public masses from this evening until further notice.
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