Disgrace: The people flocking to public places in their thousands
Hundreds of thousands of people in the UK have been pictured ignoring social distancing guidelines this weekend amid the coronavirus pandemic.
With the UK basking in the sunshine on Mother’s Day, many public parks and coastal locations across the country have been packed with visitors.
This is despite the Government and NHS urging people to maintain a distance of at least two metres in public.
Boris Johnson has now said he will not rule out tougher restrictions to enforce social distancing.
Speaking today the Prime Minister said: ‘Don’t think fresh air automatically provides some immunity.
‘There are plenty of people you could infect.
‘Take this advice seriously, follow it, because it’s absolutely crucial.’
Mr Johnson ordered pubs, restaurants and gyms to close on Friday and urged people to stay indoors as authorities battled to stem the increasing spread of Covid-19.
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But images on social media have shown these warnings have fallen on deaf ears in places such as Skegness, West Bay Dorset, Whitby West Yorkshire, Bournemouth and Brighton .
In east London, hundreds flocked to the famous Columbia Road flower market and another market in Victoria Park.
Popular outdoor spots such as Clapham Common and Greenwich Park were also full of visitors.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show: ‘My message to all your viewers is simple: life has changed, we’ve got to do things differently for a while now.
‘Social interaction leads to the disease spreading, leads to people dying.
‘Don’t leave your home unless you really, really have to.’
Healthcare workers are also asking people to stay at home in an effort to limit the spread of the virus.
Chris Brereton, whose fiancee is an NHS nurse, tweeted: ‘My exhausted fiancee, a f*g heroine, has just got in from her hospital shift.
‘One three-minute chat with her would convince anyone still going to pubs that their actions are the stupidest and most ludicrously selfish thing they will ever do in their lifetime. Get indoors.’
The National Trust, which owns more than 500 heritage sites and properties, decided to shut its premises this weekend after previously vowing to keep them open.
Its director-general Hilary McGrady said: ‘Despite our desire to keep our outdoor spaces open, the health and wellbeing of our staff, volunteers and visitors has to be our top priority.
‘Having observed the numbers visiting our properties today I am no longer convinced we can maintain social distancing over Mother’s Day when numbers are likely to grow, and beyond.’
West Wittering beach has also been closed.
Communities secretary, Robert Jenrick told Sky’s Sophie Ridge at this stage the government is reluctant to enforce social distancing guidelines in the same way as Italy and China have.
He said: ‘We don’t want to go down that route.
‘We want to live in a free society where we can continue to go about our activities, whilst following the medical advice.
‘But this isn’t a game.
‘This is very serious, and people need to follow that advice.’
More than 5,000 people in the UK have now contracted coronavirus and 281 have died from the killer bug.
The Government has released a list of the people most vulnerable to the virus, who are being asked to stay at home.
Some 1.5 million people in England will be sent letters ‘strongly advising’ them not to go out for at least 12 weeks from Monday.
Authorities say social distancing is important because coronavirus spreads when an infected person coughs small droplets, which contain the virus, into the air.
These can be breathed in, or cause an infection if you touch a surface they have landed on, then your eyes, nose or mouth, reported the BBC.
In Scotland, people were being urged to not visit the Highlands.
Tourism secretary Fiona Hyslop told BBC’s Sunday Politics Scotland that visitors to the Highlands could be putting local communities ‘at risk’.
She said: ‘If they get ill there they will compromise the health or others that are living in the Highlands and Islands.’
Judy Murray, mother of tennis stars Andy and Jamie Murray, tweeted a message to ‘those relocating to the countryside’.
It showed a picture of a car and trailer with ‘Go home idiots’ and ‘Covid-19’ painted on the side.
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