Parliament could be shut down to halt coronavirus spread
Parliament could be shut down in a bid to halt the coronavirus from being transmitted throughout the country, amid fears that MPs and their staff could be inadvertent super-spreaders.
Discussions are underway between parliamentary authorities and medical advisers, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said today.
“It’s not for me to speak for parliament but I’m sure parliament will itself be led by the advice of the experts in terms of taking the steps it needs in order to protect the people that work there.”
During PMQs today Boris Johnson told the house that “the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser, together with my right hon. friend the health secretary, will be saying a little bit more in the next couple of days about what we are going to do to delay the advance of coronavirus—in Parliament and in other large gatherings.”
Yesterday the Prime Minister, chief medical officer Chris Witty and chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance held a press conference, warning the country that a widespread outbreak of Covid-19 was now highly likely.
They urged the public to focus on hand washing in a bid to delay the peak of the virus, which it is hoped will come in early summer, when the NHS is under less seasonal pressure.
Experts also warned businesses that they should expect a fifth of their workforce to be made absent by the virus. However, they urged “business as usual” until the infection rate appears to be near peaking, when “socially disruptive” measures such as working from home and the banning of mass gatherings could be deployed for as long as 12 weeks.
Any earlier risks high levels of disruption without any benefit towards stopping the spread of coronavirus, and may lead to people getting bored of isolation and giving up before they are advised to.