Boris Johnson has ordered all cafes, bars, pubs, restaurants and shops to close for the foreseeable future from tonight.
In a dramatic step, the Prime Minister said that following agreement of all the four nations of the UK, all such places – as well as nightclubs, theatres, gyms, cinemas and leisure centres must also close with immediate effect.
The full list is:
- Food & drink venues
- Pubs, bars and clubs
- Cinemas, theatres, concert and bingo halls
- Spas, indoor leisure and gyms
- Casinos & betting shops
- Museums & galleries
He added that takeaways would be excluded from the new measures coming in from tonight.
“I know it has been difficult… but these actions we are taking together are helping to take the strain off the NHS,” Johnson said.
“The speed of our eventual recovery depends entirely on our collective ability to get on top of the virus now and that means we have to take the next steps on scientific advice.
“And following our plan we are strengthening the measures announced on Monday. We need now to push down further on that curve of transmission between us.
“And so following agreement with all the… devolved administrations, we are collectively telling cafes, pubs, bars and restaurants to close tonight as soon as they reasonably can and not to open tomorrow.
“We’re also telling nightclubs, theatres, cinemas, gyms and leisure centres to close on the same timescale.”
Restaurants will be allowed to operate as take-aways, he added.
The measures on closures will be reviewed on a monthly basis.
