Londoners largely heeding advice to stay at home

Shopping streets in Central London were almost deserted on Tuesday after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a three-week halt to all nonessential activity the previous day. The government told most stores to close, banned gatherings of three or more people and said everyone apart from essential workers should leave home only to buy food and medicines or to exercise.

At the Mile End Underground station in the East London people seemed to be heeding the advice to stay home. Only a few people arrived to take Underground trains and buses were mostly empty.

Victoria Park in East London remained open and runners took advantage of the early morning sunshine, making use of their only allocated outing to exercise. Despite this, public transport in parts of the city was still busy on Tuesday morning.

“I cannot say this more strongly: we must stop all non-essential use of public transport now," London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted.

"Ignoring these rules means more lives lost.”

The UK has reported 6,650 cases of COVID-19 and 335 deaths.

Most patients who contract the new coronavirus develop only mild symptoms and recover after about two weeks. But the virus is highly contagious and can be spread by those with no visible symptoms.

For older adults and people with underlying health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Globally, the coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 383,000 people and killed over 16,500. More than 101,000 people have recovered so far, mostly in China.