Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Boris Johnson orders UK pubs, clubs and restaurants to CLOSE as government announces plans to pay wages

Boris Johnson said the UK Government is telling pubs, cafes, nightclubs, bars, restaurants, theatres, leisure centres and gyms to close from tonight to fight coronavirus.

The Prime Minister said the plans – had been agreed with the country’s devolved parliaments – will mean the venues can not open from Saturday.

He confirmed that businesses can continue to operate takeaway operations during the fight against covid-19.

Mr Johnson said: “The speed of our eventual recovery depends entirely on our collective ability to get on top of the virus now and that means we have to take the next steps on scientific advice,” he told the daily Covid-19 press conference.

“And following our plan we are strengthening the measures announced on Monday.

“We need now to push down further on that curve of transmission between us.

“And so following agreement with all the devolved administrations, we are collectively telling cafes, pubs, bars and restaurants to close tonight as soon as they reasonably can and not to open tomorrow.

“Though, to be clear, they can continue to provide take out services

“We’re also telling nightclubs, theatres, cinemas, gyms and leisure centres to close on the same timescale.”

It comes as Chancellor Rishi Sunak said that “for the first time in our history” the Government will step in and help pay people’s wages through a coronavirus job retention scheme.

He said employers would be able to apply to HM Revenue and Customs to cover 80% of the wages of staff they keep on up to £2,500 a month.

Mr Sunak said “our planned economic response will be one of the most comprehensive in the world”.

He added: “To all those at home, right now anxious about the days ahead, I say you will not face this alone.”

He also said the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme will now be interest-free for 12 months rather than the six months previously announced.

“And thanks to the enormous efforts of our critical financial services sector those loans will now be available starting from Monday,” he said.

It comes after the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in the UK rose to 177.

There have been 167 in England, six in Scotland, three in Wales and one in Northern Ireland.

The number of deaths across the UK is up 40 on the equivalent total for Thursday – the biggest day-on-day rise since the outbreak began.

The first coronavirus-related death in the UK was reported 15 days ago, on March 5.

It comes after the Scottish Government revealed there were 322 confirmed cases north of the border.

In Tayside and Fife there have been 43 confirmed cases.

For more on this story follow our coronavirus live blog.