Spas, gyms and leisure centres are among the businesses that have been ordered to close their doors in Britain's fight to contain COVID-19.
In a press conference on Friday afternoon, Boris Johnson has ordered all social gathering spaces including bars, pubs, restaurants and spa and leisure spaces across the UK to close "as soon as possible" to try and battle the COVID-19 outbreak.
Cinemas, theatres and galleries will also close in a bid to slow the spread of the virus and save lives as the UK death toll rose to 177 on Friday. The measures will initially be put in place for 14 days to strengthen social distancing, and protect the public from the virus.
Restaurants will still be allowed to serve takeaways with supermarkets unlikely to be affected at this stage.
Mr Johnson said; "We will enforce it strictly, but in reality everybody can see the imperative of doing what is necessary, of protecting our NHS and saving lives."
The full list of sectors affected is:
● Food & drink venues
● Pubs, bars and clubs
● Cinemas, theatres, concert and bingo halls
● Spas, indoor leisure and gyms
● Casinos & betting shops
● Museums & galleries
The government lockdown will be reviewed after the two-week shutdown ends.
Commenting on the decision at the Downing Street press conference Johnson said; “I want to stress that we will review the situation each month, to see if we can relax any of these measures.”
Visit GOV.UK for further information.
.gif)
