There now follows a ministerial broadcast from the Prime Minister.
Good evening, the Coronavirus is the biggest threat
this country has faced for decades and this country is not alone. All over the
world, we're seeing the devastating impactof this invisible killer and so tonight
I want to update you on the latest steps we're taking to fight the disease and
what you can do to help. And I want to begin by reminding you why the UK has
been taking the approach that we have. Without a huge national effort to halt
the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the
world could possibly cope because there won't be enough ventilators, enough
intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses and as we've seen elsewhere in
other countries that also have fantastic health care systems, that is the moment
of real danger. To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at
one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it, meaning more people are likely
to die not just from Coronavirus, but from other illnesses as well. So it's
vital to slow the spread of the disease because that is the way we reduce the
number of people needing hospital treatment at any one time, so we can
protect the NHS's ability to cope and save more lives and that's why we've
been asking people to stay at home during this pandemic and though huge
numbers are complying, and I thank you all, the time has now come for us all to
do more. From this evening, I must give the British people a very simple
instruction, you must stay at home because the critical thing we must do to
stop the disease spreading between households. That is why people will only
be allowed to leave their home for the following very limited purposes:
shopping for basic necessities as infrequently as possible, one form of
exercise a day, for example, a run, walk or cycle alone or with members of your
household, any medical need to provide care or to help a vulnerable person and
traveling to and from work but only whether this is absolutely necessary and
cannot be done from home. That's all. These are the only reasons you should
leave your home. You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you
to meet you, should say no. You should not be meeting family members who do
not live in your home. You should not be going shopping except for essentials
like food and medicine and you should do this as little as you can and use food
delivery services where you can. If you don't follow the rules,
the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and
dispersing gatherings, to ensure compliance with the government's
instruction to stay at home, we will immediately close all shops selling
non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores and other premises
including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms and places of worship.
We'll stop all gatherings of more than two people in public, excluding people you
live with, and will stop all social events including weddings, baptisms and
other ceremonies, but excluding funerals. Parks will remain open for exercise but
gatherings will be dispersed. No Prime Minister wants to enact measures like
this. I know the damage that this disruption is doing and will do to
people's lives to their businesses and to their jobs and that's why we've
produced a huge and unprecedented program of support, both for workers and
for business and I can assure you that we will keep these restrictions under
constant review. We will look again in three weeks and relax them, if the
evidence shows we are able to but at present, there are just no easy options.
The way ahead is hard and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost
and it is also true that there is a clear way through day by day, we are
strengthening our amazing NHS with 7500 former clinicians now coming back to the
service. With the time you buy by simply staying at home, we are increasing our
stocks of equipment. We are accelerating our search for treatments. We're
pioneering work on a vaccine and we are buying millions of testing kits that
will enable us to turn the tide on this invisible killer. I want to thank
everyone who is working flat-out to beat the virus. Everyone from the supermarket
staff to the transport workers to the carers to the nurses and doctors on the
frontline but in this fight we can be in no doubt that each and every one of us
is directly enlisted. Each and every one of us is now obliged to join together to
halt the spread of this disease to protect our NHS and to save many, many
thousands of lives and I know that, as they have in the past so many times, the
people of this country will rise to that challenge and we will come through it
stronger than ever. We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together
and therefore, I urge you at this moment of national emergency to stay at home.
Protect our NHS and save lives. Thank you.