Car parks empty and train carriages deserted as coronavirus crisis grips Britain

Millions of British workers have stayed at home today as commuters found car parks empty, train carriages deserted and seats available on the busiest routes because of the coronavirus crisis.

Mainline railways stations in the UK's towns and cities are largely empty as were Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted airports while major shopping streets in London usually teeming with people also eerily quiet.

Transport for London, who had a Jubilee Line train driver test positive for coronavirus today, has said that on buses and the Tube, used by 5million each day, journeys are down two per cent in a week.

As many as 20million of the country's 33million working population could soon be working from home, according to an office survey by IWG Global Workplace. 

 

Social media users reported quieter than usual trains travelling to cities including London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Newcastle, Birmingham and Cambridge.

One Twitter user said: 'It's so quiet for the rush hour train to Newcastle ... everyone in scarves or masks and you can tell the sheer fear has hit.' Another wrote: 'Eerily quiet on the trains this morning but business as usual on the ward. Has the feel of those weird days between Christmas and New Year.' 

The mass stayaway came after the Prime Minister said people with even mild symptoms, including a continuous cough or high temperature, must stay at home for at least seven days.

Boris Johnson's guidance was issued yesterday with between 5,000 and 10,000 people in the UK already thought to be infected with coronavirus, when the official figures show 596 cases and ten deaths.   

The Government's softer approach to shutting down communities when compared to other countries is under major scrutiny as critics including former ministers Jeremy Hunt and Rory Stewart branding the decision to keep schools open and not to ban major gatherings 'concerning' and 'dangerous'.





MailOnline