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‘Help me!’: NHS worker issues plea to Boris Johnson as commuter train packed despite UK lockdown

‘I love my job, but now I’m risking my health just on the journey in?!’

Chiara Giordano
Tuesday 24 March 2020 09:22 GMT
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Boris Johnson announces nationwide lockdown to tackle coronavirus

Images have emerged of packed London tube trains on the first day of a nationwide lockdown amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Passengers can be seen crammed inside carriages standing just inches apart less than 12 hours after prime minister Boris Johnson announced a strict lockdown across the UK.

One hospital worker tweeted an image from a busy central line train shortly before 7am urging London mayor Sadiq Khan to return tube services to normal.

She said: “This is my tube this morning. I live in zone 4 and work in a zone 1 hospital. I love my job, but now I’m risking my health just on the journey in?!

“@SadiqKhan put the tube service back to normal so we can all spread out, or @BorisJohnson start policing who’s getting on. Help me!”

Mr Khan told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme non-essential workers who must still attend their workplace should not use London’s public transport during rush hour.

The mayor previously said only key workers, such as health workers, should use the capital’s public transport, which is running at a reduced service.​

The UK woke on Tuesday to life under a string of strict new measures aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19 in a bid to take pressure off the NHS.

In a televised address on Monday evening, Mr Johnson announced people will only be allowed to leave their homes to shop for basic necessities such as food and medication as infrequently as possible, to exercise once a day and for essential work that cannot be done from home.

Anyone who needs medical attention or to provide care of help to a vulnerable person will also be allowed to leave.

The government has also said it will “stop all gatherings of more than two people” apart from those of people who live together, such as parents going out with their children, and those that are “essential for work purposes”.

The prime minister also ordered all “non-essential shops and public spaces” to close, including retail stores selling clothing and electronics, hair and beauty salons, markets, libraries, youth centres, indoor and outdoor leisure facilities such as bowling alleys, hotels and B&Bs, campsites and caravan parks.

Parks will remain open but the communal places within them, such as playgrounds, sports courts and outdoor gyms will be closed.

Churches will be closed except for funerals attended by immediate families.

The UK’s death toll reached 335 on Monday, while confirmed cases rose to 6,650.

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