Coronavirus: Sadiq Khan says Tube travel ban very unlikely
Londoners are unlikely to be advised to stop using the Tube during the coronavirus outbreak, according to Sadiq Khan.
Speaking after the launch of his re-election campaign today, the mayor of London said he does not believe it will be necessary to ban public gatherings or tell people to stay away from public transport.
Khan led a meeting of transport and health bosses last night, however he was not invited to attend Boris Johnson’s COBRA meeting on the outbreak.
He said the advice given by health chiefs is there is “no reason to worry” about using public transport in the capital.
“I don’t foresee a situation where we’re advising people not to use the Tube or public transport, but we review this each day,” he said.
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“I don’t foresee saying, ‘don’t go to concerts’ and banning people being in confined spaces, but we’ll review it.”
Khan’s statement is in contrast to the decision made by the French government to ban all gatherings of over 5000 people.
This has resulted in Saturday’s Paris Marathon being cancelled.
The mayor said he was confident in the advice he was receiving from the Chief Medical Officer and Public Health England in how to deal with the outbreak.
“The key thing is to wash your hands after [using public transport] thoroughly,” he said.
Khan’s statement comes as Boris Johnson said this morning that a fifth of the UK’s workforce could miss work due to the virus outbreak.
The Prime Minister unveiled the government’s “battle plan”, claiming that it is “more likely than not” the UK will be significantly affected by Covid-19.
However, only a “small proportion” of British deaths are expected, with the elderly and people with existing conditions most at risk.
The plan appears to contradict Khan as it points out that shutting public transport will be on the cards if an outbreak hits its possible peak.
Among the other measures that will be deployed once the outbreak is deemed to be at its peak are:
- Closing schools
- Encouraging greater home working
- Reducing the number of large scale gatherings