6.4 C
London
Sunday, March 24, 2024
HomeCoronavirusUK to ban mass gatherings from next week to curb coronavirus

UK to ban mass gatherings from next week to curb coronavirus

Date:

Related stories

Country in shock after Princess of Wales’ cancer announcement

AFTER weeks of wild speculation, the country was on...

Sunak on new England football kit row: ‘Don’t mess with flag’

PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak waded into a row over...

Princess of Wales undergoing chemotherapy after cancer diagnosis

PRINCESS OF WALES said on Friday (22) she was...

Police probing Tory donor’s alleged comments about Abbott

British police said on Friday they were investigating possibly...

Child poverty hits record high in UK, data shows

AN unprecedented rise in child poverty happened across the...

The British government will ban mass gatherings from next week in an attempt to curb the coronavirus outbreak, an escalation of its crisis plan that critics had said was too relaxed.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has so far resisted pressure to take some of the stringent measures adopted by other European countries to slow the spread of the virus.

“Ministers are working with the chief scientific adviser and chief medical officer on our plan to stop various types of public events, including mass gatherings, beginning next week,” a government source said on Saturday.

Legislation would be published next week to give the government powers to deal with the outbreak, including to stop mass gatherings and compensate organisations, the source said.

Some organisations have stepped ahead of the government in terms of limiting public gatherings. On Friday, England’s soccer Premier League suspended all matches until April 4 and other events such as the London Marathon were postponed by their organisers.

Queen Elizabeth, 93, cancelled some public engagements for next week due to the coronavirus outbreak, Buckingham Palace said on Friday.

Johnson postponed for a year local and mayoral elections in England that had been due to take place in May.

As of Friday, Britain had 798 cases of the illness, and 11 people had died.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States might include the United Kingdom in the coronavirus travel ban that it has imposed on other European countries.

British media said the new ban on mass gatherings could affect events such as the Glastonbury music festival, the Wimbledon tennis championships and the Grand National horse race.

Scotland’s devolved government said on Thursday all large gatherings above 500 people should be cancelled to help emergency services to focus on the coronavirus outbreak.

Subscribe

- Never miss a story with notifications

- Gain full access to our premium content

- Browse free from up to 5 devices at once

Latest stories