The Corona virus 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 impact of 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 bean 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 I won't be enough ventilators.

Enough intensive care beds, enough doctors, a nurse is 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.

But one time the N hs will be unable to handle it, meaning more people are likely to die not just from Corona virus, 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 N.

H s is ability to cope and save more lives on.

That's why we've been asking people to stay at home during this pandemic.

And the huge numbers are complying and I thank you all the time has now come for us ball 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 with members of your household.

Any medical need to provide care or help a vulnerable person on dhe traveling to and from work, but only where 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 not 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 a food delivery service is 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, on Dhe other premises, including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms and places of worship.

We'll stall all gatherings of more than two people in public, excluding people you live with, and we'll 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 tow their businesses, turned to their jobs on.

That's why we've produced a huge an unprecedented program of support, both 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 were 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 yet it is also true that there is a clear way through day by day we are strengthening our amazing N hs, with 7500 former clinicians now coming back to the service with the time you buy by simply staying at home, we're increasing our stocks of equipment.

We are accelerating.

Our search for treatments were pioneering work on our vaccine and we're buying millions off testing kits that were 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 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 toe hope the spread of this disease to protect our N hs and to save many, many thousands of lives.

And I know that is 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 Corona virus and we will beat it together.

And therefore, I urge you, at this moment of national emergency to stay at home, protect our n hs and save lives.

Thank you.

Well, let's get some immediate reaction to that unprecedented statement from a British prime minister.

Right now.

Our political editor, Gary Given is in Downing Street Gary Extraordinary statement.

Really, This is not the stuff of peace time.

This belongs to wartime sort of era, banning public meetings, the only social function.

You wouldn't be able to go to a funeral for a long as these rules apply.

Closing all the remaining shops, we could see that one coming towards us.

You just need to look at the High Street's that was goingto happen, stopping gatherings of more than two people in giving the police the power to disperse people.

That is pretty extraordinary.

Stuff there refines being talked about here that could be imposed.

I understand that requires regulation to go through the House Commons, but that should be in place by Thursday.

Those fines could be being handed out.

Then it's gonna be extraordinary to see how the government tries to regulate who's coming in and out of the house.

There's an awful lot of houses out there on whether they've come out earlier.

There are other countries where carrying papers with you is more of a tradition.

Is more of the recent living history.

It isn't in this country.

You do wonder how all of that is going to be actually implemented.

That boy will be a long, long way from talk of suppressing sombreros and jokes with the front room of front row of a press conference and some of the tone that Boris Johnson has done trying to lighten the mood in this thing.

We have traveled a very, very long way in a very short time, and that tells you what they were looking at in there, the scenarios they were looking at today when they were contemplating the near future in terms of deaths.

But Prime Minister referred to it in there.

He talked about a lot of death.

Still to come on at the implication all the time at the moment is that they're going to be indirect deaths that arise from this crisis as well.

Because the care isn't there, other people from other conditions might die.

It was an extremely sobering and very, very unfamiliar speech from a world we've none of us lived in.

Indeed, Gary.

Well, we may well come back to you, but we're joined now from Westminster by the Shadow Secretary of State for Hell For Jonathon Ashwell from North Yorkshire is the former director of Maternal and child Health of the World Health Organization on now Professor of Global Health at UCL Professor Andrew Costello on Professor Helen Ward from Imperial.

First of all, a Johnson Ashworth.

You've been calling for this, Are you?

Do you welcome it?

Or is it too late?

No, we do welcome it.

I mean, there are an extraordinary is an extraordinary announcement, isn't it?

But when you look at the numbers of people who have been dying suddenly from this virus, when you look at where we are on the various curves compared toe over countries across Europe.

I couldn't understand why the government were not moving sooner to announce these sorts of measures.

So today we called on the government to announce measures along these lines.

So yes, of course I welcome it.

I mean, there will be questions about how these measures will be implemented, how well they will be enforced.

And many people watching the program tonight, I'm sure, will be frightened.

Concerned on will want that clarity, clarity around travel, clarity about what this means for their for their elderly loved ones.

Perhaps, but the overall package is one that we have been calling for.

So, yes, I do welcome it, Professor Anti Costello.

Can you work out why the government didn't do this earlier?

Well, I welcomed the decision of the prime minister to lock down, and we need it.

But we must remember and w h o have bean emphasizing this time and time again that locked down alone is a blunt instrument.

We need the fine detective work of public health in every region to really go look to find cases to test them and it contacts in quarantine them.

That's the detective work we need to suppress this epidemic alongside lock down on.

Remember that 15 local authorities yesterday had only reported less than 10 cases, although we know there will be many more than that.

But in the hot spot areas like London, we test to protect our health workers outside in other regions.

We need to make sure we've got retired doctors, medical student nurses who could go out without protective equipment to find out where these cases are.

And quarante Professor Helen Ward just looking at the numbers.

Spain locked down after 200 deaths.

Fronsac After 175 the UK has now reported 335 deaths.

Why do you think the U.

K government is apparently looking at those figures behind the curb?

I think that the UK government has been reluctant to do this because it thinks that it's better to get people to be persuaded rather than to try and enforce this.

But I think they recognized that you need everybody to do this, not just the people who are keen and willing and early adopters.

So I think it's taken the right step now and I think just answer me says we need to back this up with really strong public health measures also really support people in communities.

There are going to be people who need a lot of financial, emotional and social support.

Practical things like deliveries.

We need to make sure that's in place as soon as possible with a mass basically massive volunteers on state support for them.

Professor Van Costello.

Even if you pull those additional measures in place, is there any proof or evidence that this kind of lock down does work?

Given that China is only just coming out of there locked up?

Not well.

I think we should offer hope to people China, but suppressed an epidemic after the catastrophe of Wuhan within seven weeks.

That's across 1.4 billion people.

I think we can do the same on we've got technological developments coming on stream that will first test the immune response two people so that that will tell us whether there's lots of people without symptoms that will increase our immunity is a community on Also, there are developments in hopefully point of care and home testing for both the virus on the immune response.

So I think we need to not think about a year ahead.

Think about 7 to 8 weeks on.

Get our lives back to normal.

Professor Anthony Costello, Helen Ward and Jordan Ashworth.

Thank you very much.