UK premier announces three-week nationwide coronavirus quarantine

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered to impose a three-week quarantine in the United Kingdom to contain the novel coronavirus infection in the country.

"The time has now come for us all to do more. From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction - you must stay at home. Because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households," Johnson said in a BBC broadcast.

Starting from tonight, residents of the country will be allowed to leave their homes for only "very limited purposes," he said.

Residents will be allowed shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible; and one form of an outdoor exercise a day. They will be also be allowed to leave homes for "any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person" and for "travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home."

The government ordered immediate closure of all shops selling non-essential goods.

All social events, such as weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, will be prohibited, excluding funerals. Playgrounds, outdoor gyms and places of worship will be closed. Parks will remain open for exercise, but gatherings will be dispersed.

Police will control the implementation of those instructions, including by imposing fines and dispersing gatherings. In the coming days, the country will adopt a bill on fines for violators of the quarantine.

All those measures are aimed at slowing down the pace of the infection and prevent the overload of the healthcare system that might lead to an increase in the morality rate.