U.K. CONSIDERS TOUGHER ACTION TO FIGHT SPREAD.

UNITED KINGDOM THERE ARE NO PLANS TO CLOSE DOWN THE TRANSPORT NETWORK IN LONDON.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government in the United Kingdom is considering tougher action to fight the spread of the coronavirus in London but has denied it is planning to confine residents to their homes or seal off the city.

Measures under consideration include ordering bars, restaurants and shops to close and taking a harder line to ensure more people work from home, according to people familiar with the matter. But the moves will not see the capital cut off from the rest of the country, and individuals won’t be forced to stay indoors.

“There are no plans to close down the transport network in London and there’s zero prospect of any restrictions being placed on people travelling in or out of London,” Johnson’s spokesman James Slack said. It is “not true” that only one person will be allowed out of their home at any one time, he added.

The prime minister has warned he may need to tighten restrictions in the capital, which is at the centre of the outbreak, amid concerns that too many Londoners are ignoring his advice to avoid unnecessary social gatherings.

Limits are also being placed on London’s transport network with dozens of stations closing, and Johnson was scheduled to meet London Mayor Sadiq Khan in Downing Street on Thursday to discuss the next steps.

Johnson, who has faced criticism for moving too slowly against the disease, is now racing to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which has already killed 104 people in Britain.

As many as 20,000 military personnel are on standby to be deployed to support civil authorities as part of a new “COVID Support Force.”

Johnson’s government also published emergency legislation on Thursday that will give it the powers to close meeting places, ban gatherings and detain people who are a danger to public health as it seeks to halt the spread of the virus. The government expects to fast-track the draft law through Parliament next week.

Failure to slow the contagion may require tighter controls on the movement of people, Johnson said.

“We live in a land of liberty as you know, and it’s one of the great features of our lives that we don’t tend to impose those sorts of restrictions on people,” Johnson told reporters in London. “But I have to tell you, we will rule nothing out.”