‘More will die unless people stay at home’: Mayor Sadiq Khan hits out at Londoners and tells them to stop socialising as he launches furious rant at the government for ‘not letting him attend Cobra meetings’
- London Mayor Sadiq Khan says he was not allowed to attend cobra meetings
- Says Londoners should be working from home across the capital like him
- Many in the city took to the parks this weekend as pubs and restaurants closed
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has slammed the government for ‘not letting him attend Cobra meetings’ as he declares Londoners need to stay in doors to ‘protect the ones they love’ amid the coronavirus outbreak.
As the UK death toll reached 233, with 5,018 people infected, pubs, clubs, restaurants and other social venues have shut their doors to customers in order to stave off the deadly infection.
Despite this many Londoners continued to leave their homes this weekend with many taking to parks across the city to socialise with friends and family members.
London is the worst hit city in the UK and Mr Khan today claimed he has been lobbying Boris Johnson’s government in order for stricter measures to be implemented across the capital.
There have been 51 deaths in the capital and 1,221 confirmed cases of the illness.
Londoners were seen walking around parks this weekend after leisure centers and gyms closed
Customers sit at tables inside a pub in London on March 20 before they were ordered to close
Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show this morning, Mr Khan was questioned on whether or not Londoners had understood how serious the situation in the capital currently is.
‘I am clear, life has changed and we have to do things differently for a while now.
‘Social interaction will spread the virus. Do shopping for elderly neighbours, only buy what you need.’
He added that people needed to practice social distancing for their vulnerable loved ones and said if people didn’t then they ‘will die’.
Marr said there had been a clear ‘change in tone’ after the government had initially allowed pubs and restaurants to continue to run before it ordered them to close on Friday night.
Sadiq Khan this morning said he was frustrated by the government as it hadn’t let him attend a cobra meeting
‘My frustration with government is that only last Monday they allowed me to attend Cobra, things are worse in London, if we don’t keep our social distance people will die. I’m working from home and others should too.’
Asked whether or not parks and other public places should be closed, Mr Khan said people need to recognise the severity of the situation.
‘I have been lobbying the government.
‘There are instructions and rules we need to obey to stop people dying. Making sure there is no confusion or mixed messages, people should not be leaving their homes unless they have to, they can walk dogs or exercise, but mixing socially leads to more people dying.’
He added that emergency bills that will go through parliament next week will give additional powers to police in order to allow them to enforce stricter rules upon the public and social gatherings.
‘Unless people stay at home and stop using public transport then more people will die.
‘Please stop mixing and stay at home.’
He said public transport should only be used for critical workers and said his office has now implemented an ‘enhanced cleaning regime on all TfL estates’.
‘The advice at the moment is not to give them masks, if the advice changes then of course we will change this. But the NHS still don’t have what they need.
‘Stay at home unless you have good reason to leave your home, it’s important everyone works from home’.
There has been much speculation on whether or not London, a ‘city of super spreaders’ would be locked down due to the rapid spread of the virus.
Mr Khan added: ‘We are a global city, we have connectivity around the country and density. All of us need to follow the advice, we are running a weekend service during the week.
‘No one else apart from critical workers should be using public transport.’