March 2020. Dozens of London Underground stations are to be closed indefinitely amid a toughening of measures to try to slow the spread of coronavirus. Transport for London announced a series of changes late on Wednesday evening as it urged people in the capital not to travel if at all possible. “People should not be travelling, by any means, unless they really, really have to,” said the mayor, Sadiq Khan. On Wednesday the UK announced the closure of all schools, the first in its modern history. The UK can “turn the tide” on the coronavirus crisis within 12 weeks, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said. But pressed on what he meant by the three-month timescale, he said he did not know how long it would go on for. He said trials on a vaccine were expected to begin within a month and warned he would “enforce” Londoners to be kept apart “if necessary”. Earlier, in a message to the nation, the Queen urged people to come together for the common good. Speaking in Downing Street, Mr Johnson told reporters: “I believe that a combination of the measures that we’re asking the public to take and better testing, scientific progress, will enable us to get on top of it within the next 12 weeks and turn the tide. “I cannot stand here and tell you that by the end of June that we will be on the downward slope. “It’s possible but I simply can’t say that that’s for certain,” he added. “We don’t know how long this thing will go on for. But what I can say is that this is going to be finite.”
Mar 2020. Coronavirus in the UK Part 5
