Boris Johnson admitted that he is now asking, though not ordering, the nation to take difficult steps to combat the various.

But he said the country has reached the critical moment when, without drastic action, the number of cases would double every five days.

From the end of this week, elderly and vulnerable people should be shielded from contact with others for 12 weeks.

Everyone should stop all non essential contact and travel and keep your distance from others.

That means working from home where possible and no visits to pubs, clubs, restaurants or theaters.

How cells where someone has symptoms of the virus should isolate themselves.

For two weeks, our political editor, Gary Given, has more.

Many people were locking themselves down before the government changed its advice.

Commuters thin on the ground Waterloo Station at eight this morning.

The prime minister, only days after signaling the time, was not right to copy other countries and move to a lock Down said that was what he was now urging on all age groups, those not at most risk on those in greatest danger in a few days time by this coming weekend, it will be necessary to go further and to ensure that those with the most serious health conditions are largely shielded from contact from social contact for around 12 weeks.

And even if you're under 70 suffering mild symptoms like a persistent cough or high temperature, the advice has been ratcheted up.

If you anyone in your household has one of those two symptoms, then you should stay at home for 14 days.

That means that if possible, you should not go out even to buy food or essentials other than for exercise and in that case, at a safe distance from others.

But for all in the country, he said, even those with no symptoms, the way you live should change drastically.

Now is the time for everyone to stop non essential contact with others and to stop all unnecessary travel.

We need people to start working from home where they possibly can, and you should avoid pubs, clubs, theaters on dhe, other such social venues.

The advice only last week was that banning mass events would not much help control the spread of the disease.

Today that changed.

It remains true, as we said in the last few weeks that risks of transmission of the disease at mass gatherings.

Such a sporting events are registered delay, but obviously logically, we advise against unnecessary social contact of all kinds.

It's right that we should extend that advice to mass gatherings as well.

The government said London's infection rate was racing ahead of the rest of the country that had brought forward the date of a crackdown that might have come later, but one which is for now, strong advice, not a change in the law.

I think most people would would accept that we are a mature on grown up on a liberal democracy where people understand very clearly the advice that is being given to them.

Ministers arriving for a Cobra planning meeting earlier a Public Health England message to hospitals to Channel four news yesterday admitted testing for the virus here is restricted to those with the most serious symptoms.

In Geneva, the World Health Organization spelled out that approach was dangerous and rock you must test and isolate.

You can not fight a fire blindfolded and we cannot stop this pandemic if we don't know who is infected.

We have a simple message for all countries test test test.

We do intend to continue to scale up testing, but I think it's important to realize the scale off UK testing, which has bean substantial schools in the future, might be closed.

But the government said now was not the time for that or other tougher measures.

When you come to MME.

Or extreme measures like you curfews and so on and so forth, you're seeing some of other countries.

We're keeping all measures under review and particularly obviously people will be thinking about about school closures.

There is an argument about about school closures.

We think at the moment.

On balance, it's much better if we can keep schools open for for all sorts of reasons.

The Japanese prime minister talked with Boris Johnson and other G seven leaders by teleconference this afternoon.

The government insisted it was moving a bit closer to other countries actions because of numbers on the ground, not international or internal pressure at the early stages.

An outbreak.

The numbers are quite small, so actually the precision with which you can predict exactly where you are is low, and I said that I thought were brats.

Four weeks behind where it lead balls.

I think the new numbers suggest we may be more like three weeks in terms of that on.

That's really why we on importantly, it looks like we're on the sort of fast upswing or just about to get there on.

That's the reason to want to come in quite quickly with these measures.

Clearly what we're announcing today is a very substantial change in the way that we want people to live their lives on DDE.

I can't remember anything like it in in my lifetime.

I don't really been anything like it in in peace time on Dhe.

We have to accept that.

It's a very considerable psychological behavioral change that we're asking.

You were asking the public the nation to do, but I have absolutely no doubt that we can do it, a change in people's way of life that threatens countless livelihoods to preserve life itself.

Some of these measures, they said, could be with us, not just for weeks or months, but maybe even longer.

This is one hell of a jump, isn't it?

It's only a matter of days ago, really, that we were being told the main advice was to wash your hands.

And now this, which Boris Johnson admits is just about the biggest peacetime clamped down you could imagine repeatedly.

Boris Johnson said in that press conference that Britain was leading the world in responding to the virus, and I think on in research terms that there are pockets of work there which undoubtedly justified that description.

But the rest of the world or a big chunk of it has been watching Britain on will probably now think that Britain is playing catch up for us.

Johnson.

The scientists say that isn't what was happening here.

They were always gonna move when the numbers on the ground dictated they should.

On that, they say, is what has happened.

One thing that really strikes you as you look at the potential economic impact of all of this, is that it?

We haven't even had a week since the budget was meant to incorporate the risks of the New world we were moving into because of this virus, and you look at the challenges that business faces.

Boris Johnson said at one point in the House of Commons in that statement in Downing Street that nobody should be penalized for doing the right thing.

Well, if he really wants to make good, that more than the numbers that were announced in the budget probably won't stand.

And you have to go on awful lot further.

One other thing that became clear in that press conference, Boris Johnson talked about there being other reasons for keeping schools open.

People be scratching their heads about the bit about what those are, and it's quite clear that what they have in mind is what one of the top advisers called indirect deaths.

The fear that you will have people going away from the emergency service is to look after their Children at home in addition to those who were going because they're sick.

And that could lead to people who should otherwise be getting normal care, not getting the care they need.

Just another sign of the extraordinary new world we're entering.

Gary, Thanks for a march.

I'm joined now by Helen Wait Lee, whose Minister of State for social care at the Department of Health Helen, wait, We just tell me first, what is the point off stopping going to the pub If your kids are gonna bring back this disease from school.

Well, I think the overall approach that the country is taking that the government is taking today, as we have been taking the whole way since Corona virus broke is a science led approach.

So we're doing the best thing to protect lives.

We've been taking steps.

Ritual would have been already delaying the spread off the virus.

But we know that the numbers are going up, and that is why you've seen announcements, which are that taking us know quite a significant step further in the action we're taking on the witch is, apartments has said, will make a big impact on people's lives.

So one of the things that we're recommending is people should reduce their social interaction.

Avoid unnecessary total social interaction that includes, for instance, not going to the pup.

So what?

What is the point of that boat If then your kids bring it back from school because you're not closing the schools and it's circulating in the schools and months teachers.

So something we have been looking at all the way through again is that for every step you take, you need to make sure that you're aware of the unintended consequences.

So one thing, for instance, with schools is that if schools on the Children out there in school, there's a question for parents at work where their Children will be instead, and probably many perils.

We'll go to the grand parents to look off.

Their kids will actually know.

Ondas, we've included in the guidance today over seventies are often amongst the most vulnerable and more likely to be at risk of complications.

So you understand that if our idea if you're sitting at home with your kids sort of potentially infecting you, you might as well go to the pub.

I think that's let's just try on, B said.

Well organized on dhe.

People want really clear communications about water.

The best steps that they can take the the guidance has been stepping up over recent weeks and days, and let's be really, really clear about the steps were asking people to stake on.

We're asking people to take these steps not only for themselves, because for most people, in fact Corona vice people will have symptoms and then recover.

But we're asking people to take these steps, particularly to protect the more vulnerable in society.

No more likely to suffer complications.

Hence the 22 things that have been announced a day to do with isolation of the whole household.

It remember that household has symptoms on also limiting our social contact and you talk about stepping up the response.

So you asking people not to go to the pub, not go to restaurants, theaters, et cetera.

But in weeks to come, will you review making that a criminal sanction of people go out?

Well, I'm not going to speculate on what we will do in weeks to come.

Is that a possibility?

Is it a weapon in your armory?

What you've seen is a government taking step by step, the taking the decisions as to what is the right thing that we should do for the country to protect people, to keep people as safe to protect life.

So you're no rolling out criminal sanctions at some point down the road.

If you're not just actually I think the message is really important to get out is for everybody thinking about whether to follow the advice it is, Though you might not want Thio avoid a social contact, you might want to be out and about but remember that what were particularly trying to do and this is a national effort here.

We all need to work together to protect the most vulnerable in our society, to control the spread of the virus.

And that's happening hand in hand with increasing the capacity N HS to provide care for those who may need to be in hospital.

So the W.

H.

O.

Today said that just reiterated their message.

Test test test.

Now, Just four days ago, you said you were by and large just testing people who were ill in hospital.

Now you say that you are testing people in the community.

How are you doing that?

Well, the government has bean and is continued to ramp up the country's testing capacity.

So a couple of days ago, we were testing around 5000 people a day.

Today, we're testing over 6000 people a day on dhe.

We expect those numbers to keep on going up.

A huge effort is being made there.

We're having to prioritize testing those, for instance, or in hospital being admitted to hospital, also making sure that we can offer testing to those in care homes.

But we want to be able to expect to be able to spread testing more widely as the numbers keep going up.

How you currently testing in the community?

So you're probably referring to specific sampling that's done by Public Health England to make sure that we have a clear picture of the spread off the the virus.

But but I'm not just referring to what was said in the press conference.

You know, the prime minister and his two advisors there said that testing was happening in the community.

I just wondered how that was being done.

Well, as I've said to the the figures I've just given to you are the ones that we have for the number of people who are being tested.

At the moment, we're particularly prioritizing people in health care settings, and there's also some testing that is done.

Thio sample where the particular virus hot spots but critically the way are determined as ransom volumes of testing continue because we know that that is an important part of our armory off controlling the disease, protecting as many people as possible on saving people's lives.

Helen Wait Lee, thank you very much when our health and such a care.

Corresponded Victoria Godell has Bean at the briefing in Downing Street, Victoria, what did you make of today's events?

Well, it's funny, isn't it?

When you're a journalist, sometimes you think this is something that's happening to other people.

And today it really hit home that this is something that is happening to all of us and will impact many off us.

And this is an announcement that was to say to the public, This is not just about you.

This is about the people around you and particularly the vulnerable people around you, but also about protecting the health service.

And that's been their mantra all the way through, as we need to lower this peak so that the N hs can cope.

These did feel draconian.

Now they were saying, We're not gonna make you not go to the park board to theatre.

But tonight we've just had the the theatre society saying the Science Society of London Theater and UK Theater saying that they're going to close theaters across the UK from tonight.

No school closures.

They're putting that down.

The line is Kathy was just asking just then because they still don't think that that is the right thing to do.

Now that what's the evidence they based these decisions on?

Oh, John, would you like to read it?

It's quite hefty, but this is Imperial College covered.

19 Response team.

They've just published their mathematical modeling.

They say that this extension of the social distancing to cover the whole population, not over seventies will dramatically reduce the number of deaths.