Good evening, the Coronavirus 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 impactof 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

been 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 there won't be enough ventilators, enough

intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses 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 at

one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it, meaning more people are likely

to die not just from Coronavirus, 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 NHS's ability to cope and save more lives and that's why we've

been asking people to stay at home during this pandemic and though huge

numbers are complying, and I thank you all, the time has now come for us all 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 or with members of your

household, any medical need to provide care or to help a vulnerable person and

traveling to and from work but only whether 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 no. 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 food

delivery services 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 and other premises

including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms and places of worship.

We'll 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. 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 to their businesses and to their jobs and that's why we've

produced a huge and unprecedented program of support, both for 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 we are 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 it is also true that there is a clear way through day by day, we are

strengthening our amazing NHS with 7500 former clinicians now coming back to the

service. With the time you buy by simply staying at home, we are increasing our

stocks of equipment. We are accelerating our search for treatments. We're

pioneering work on a vaccine and we are buying millions of testing kits that

will 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

frontline 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

halt 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 and we will come through it

stronger than ever. We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together

and therefore, I urge you at this moment of national emergency to stay at home.

Protect our NHS and save lives. Thank you.