Johnson tells UK: Heed advice or we impose tougher virus measures
Johnson said timing of tougher measures key
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain may need to impose curfews and travel restrictions to halt the spread of the coronavirus if people do not heed the government s advice on social distancing, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on Sunday.
Pubs, clubs and gyms have already closed their but social media on Sunday was awash pictures of people congregating in parks and food markets, apparently ignoring advice to stay two metres apart.
Parks in London are already closing down as authorities struggle to slow the advance of coronavirus through the population in the biggest public health crisis since the influenza pandemic of 1918.
"You ve got to do this in line with the advice, you ve got to follow the social distancing rule, keep two metres apart," Johnson said at a news conference at Downing Street.
"Otherwise.... there is going to be no doubt that we will have to bring forward further measures and we are certainly keeping that under constant review."
Johnson said tougher measures like curfews needed to be timed right for maximum impact.
"After all, when the epidemic is hardly spreading at all that s not the moment to impose curfews and prohibitions on movement and so on and so forth," he said.
"You ve got to wait until, alas, it s the right moment to do it and that s always been how we ve been guided."
The latest official statistics show the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 5,683 on Sunday, up from 5,018 on Saturday -- suggesting they are now rising more rapidly in Britain than they did in either China or Italy at the same stage, according to a Sky News analysis.
Johnson, who has asked British manufacturers to produce ventilators for coronavirus sufferers at short notice, said "far, far more" would be needed.
Around 12% of adult critical care beds in hospitals in England are occupied by patients with COVID-19, a that number is expected to rise drastically, England s deputy chief medical officer, Jenny Harries, said.
