Nicola Sturgeon orders strict measures to tackle coronavirus

In a televised address, Boris Johnson set out the restrictions, telling everyone to stay at home.

He also banned all gatherings of more than two people in public, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies.

While funerals will be allowed to go ahead, they’ll be restricted to immediate family only.

All non-essential shops will be shut.

With immediate effect, people will only be allowed to leave their home for shopping for the basic essentials, but no more than once a day.

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They’ll be allowed to one form of exercise a day, and any medical need to provide care, or to help a vulnerable person.

The Prime Minister said people would also be allowed to leave to travel to and from work, “but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home”.

Johnson said people should not be meeting friends, or family members who do not live with them.

And he warned that anyone caught breaking the rules would be fined by police.

He added: “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.

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“We will 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.”

Johnson said the restrictions would be kept under constant review and looked at again in three weeks.

This was not an easy option, he said.

“The way ahead is hard. And it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost,” he added.

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Johnson said: ”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 front line.

“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 help 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.”

Moments later, Nicola Sturgeon moved to set out what the lockdown would mean for Scotland.

“I know how difficult all of that is and I am not going to seek to sugar coat it in any way. But these measures are essential for the protection of all of us, coronavirus is the biggest challenge of our lifetimes, and the measures we take to tackle it must reflect the magnitude of that.”

Sturgeon said the measures were essential to slow down the spread of this virus:“The advice is clear, it is strong, and it is firm, you must stay at home.”

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She added: “Make no mistake, I know how hard this is, but I want to repeat that this is essential, and my duty to you means that I cannot shy away from telling you that.”

Sturgeon said emergency legislation would give ministers in Scotland powers of enforcement.

“We will use those powers of enforcement if that is necessary,” she promised. “It is no exaggeration to say that lives depend on all of us complying with these requirements.

“Between now and these powers being in place, if the police find people or premises flouting these rules, they will give strong advice to people to cease and do the right thing.

“But within days, they will be able to follow up that up with enforcement which is likely to take the form of fines. But let me be clear. I really hope and expect that the issue of enforcement will never be more than an academic one. I hope and expect that everyone will understand that complying with these rules is in the interest of all of us.”

Sturgeon added: “I spoke a couple of days ago about the importance of all of us looking out for each other. And this is a vital part of how we do that. If we do all of these things, if all of us do all of these things, if we all agree, however difficult to restrict our own lives for a period, then many fewer of us will die of this virus than would otherwise be the case.

“That means many more of us will come through this, and out the other side of it, and perhaps do so more quickly to resume the freedoms and the lifestyles that we have for so long cherished and taken for granted.

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“I said a few days ago that this crisis was reminding us all of the fragility of life and the world we live in, but that it was also reminding us of what matters most – health, love, and solidarity.”

There have been reports of splits in the Cabinet over lockdown, with a number of ministers urging the Prime Minister to enforce it sooner rather than later.

Johnson, who thinks of himself as a libertarian, had reportedly been reluctant.

However, images over the weekend of mobbed parks and beaches, and reports of commuters squeezed into trains yesterday, seemingly convinced the Prime Minister to act.

The legislation to enforce the lockdown was passed by MPs in the Commons yesterday. The Coronavirus Bill should become law later this week. MSPs have already indicated they will back it through a Legislative Consent Motion.

It will also give police power to isolate anyone showing symptoms of having Covid-19, and makes it easier for the force to close down airports.

In a concession to a cross-party pressure, the Government will allow MPs a vote every six months on the legislation, rather than leave the powers in the hands of ministers for two years. If the Government loses, it will be forced to withdraw the powers.