Avoid crowds ma’am

SIMON Cowell, Jeremy Corbyn and the Queen are some of the prominent Brits who could be left housebound by an over-60s coronavirus warning.

World Health Organisation experts have told everyone over that age to avoid crowded areas including trains, buses and supermarkets to avoid catching the disease.

The advice came after Health Secretary Matt Hancock said an emergency “battle plan” would be drawn up at a Cobra meeting today.

The age-related warning could see Her Majesty, 93, and Prince Charles, 71, confined to chambers, unable to fulfil official duties.

MPs such as the 70-year-old Labour leader and the former PM, Theresa May, 63, would have to avoid Parliament – throwing important political business into jeopardy.

Gigs would be left without headline acts with ageing stars The Who and Bryan Ferry due to perform from this his month.

Music mogul Simon, n, who turned 60 last year, may ay be forced to skip Britain’s in’s Got Talent auditions.

Screen legend Dame Joan Collins, who is 86, posted an Instagram selfie wearing a mask, captioned: “Prepared!”

Britain could be e brought to a standstill as fears of infection intensisify. PM Boris Johnson has been slammed for his s slow reaction to the outbreak. k.

Plans announced yesterday by Mr Hancock include banning big events and restricting public transport.

Cities could be locked down in a Wuhanstyle quarantine.

Closing schools indefinitely and cancelling hospital operations are now realistic options to battle the killer bug, admitted Mr Hancock.

He said: “We don’t take anything off the table at this stage because you have to make sure you have all the tools available if that is what is necessary.”

He admitted a report that half a million people could die from a pandemic in the UK was a “reasonable worst-case scenario”.

And he confessed a pandemic may be “inevitable” as the first deaths were reported in the US, Australia and Thailand.