Mass rallies to be banned as Boris Johnson turns back on coronaviruses

Downing Street is also in talks with business organizations on the timetable for transitioning to a much more common work at home job.

The Telegraphhas has learned that ministers will discuss the closure of schools for an additional week on either side of the Easter holidays in a meeting with teachers' representatives on Monday as the UK prepares for a radical change in his response to the virus.

On Friday, Mr Johnson postponed the May local and municipal elections for an entire year amid fears that they would coincide with the peak of the epidemic, while the Queen canceled royal engagements other than the individual palace hearings and the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall canceled her spring tour abroad with only four days notice.

The government has also banned anyone who generally feels bad from visiting friends or relatives in care homes, but has not closed doors for visitors.

Parliament will limit visitor access from Monday and has implemented a ban on social events and other non-essential meetings outside the Houses of the Commons and Lords, with the total number of self-isolated MEPs reaching 17.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has advised against all but essential travel to large areas of Spain after the country declared a national emergency, while the death toll from the virus in Italy has jumped a quarter to 1,266.

Malta has announced that anyone arriving in the country will be quarantined for 14 days and Vietnam will ban visitors from the United Kingdom from Sunday.

US President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency and said that the United Kingdom could be added to the list of European countries included in the United States travel ban.

The national response to the virus was accelerated after Mr. Johnson was criticized for not taking tough enough measures to prevent its spread.

The World Health Organization is one of the bodies that has recommended a more comprehensive approach, while many scientific experts have said that Mr Johnson should go further by closing schools as part of a foreclosure wider.

The decision to ban mass gatherings – which is expected to take effect next weekend – will be supported by emergency legislation which will take effect at the end of the month.

Johnson has not yet decided on the maximum number of people who will be allowed to assemble in one place, but sources have suggested it may be higher than the Prime Minister's limit of 500 of Scotlands, Nicola Sturgeon due to different regulations north and south of the border.

A Whitehall source said: The ministers are working with the chief science advisor and the chief medical officer on our plan to stop various types of public events, including mass rallies, starting next week.

Source said government still thought banning crowds would do little to slow the spread of the virus, but ministers now worried about the burden on public services – including utilities and the police – through the treatment of coronaviruses.

Johnson said the opposite on Thursday – saying there was no need to ban major events as public services remained resilient.

A source said that crowds of up to 5,000 people could still be allowed – sparing theaters, cinemas and small concert halls from being banned – because that's when the provision of ambulances becomes mandatory, while in Scotland the figure is 500.

The Whitehall source added: Officials are working with industry organizations to identify how to support companies that will be affected by this decision.

We have drafted an emergency bill to give the government the powers it needs to fight coronaviruses, including powers to stop mass gatherings and compensate organizations …

We are also talking with businesses and other organizations about the much more common work transition schedule.

Emergency legislation, which will be released next week, will also include powers for schools to increase class sizes to stay open if teachers are sick, although the government appeared to be on Friday towards partial school closings.

School leaders believe that it makes a lot of sense to extend the Easter break, as it could help slow the spread of the virus without stopping the exams from taking place. Heads of schools have been summoned to speak to ministers about emergency plans next week, although the government has so far been reluctant to close schools, saying such a decision could result in more deaths as it would force NHS staff to stay home with their children or ask grandparents to care for them who could then be exposed.

Mr Johnson has so far insisted that it is too early to implement draconian measures on the freedom of peoples, insisting that they will get tired and stop following advice just as the virus reaches its peak, overwhelming the NHS with new cases.

Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific advisor, said the government's strategy was not to prevent everyone from contracting the virus, but simply to manage its spread and prevent people elderly and vulnerable to get it.

He said 60% of the population – 39 million people – should catch the disease to develop collective immunity and prevent it from coming back in a second wave.

But many experts said the strategy was risky. Professor Jimmy Whitworth, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: I am surprised that tougher measures have not been introduced at this stage, but I anticipate that they will arrive within a week or the next two weeks.

The longer we delay in introducing social distancing measures, the more difficult it is for them to effectively delay the epidemic.