Coronavirus crisis live: Latest updates on crisis
Read the latest coronavirus updates from across Shropshire, the UK and abroad.
Schools in England will close from Friday until further notice for all pupils except children of key workers and the most vulnerable, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said.
The news was revealed this afternoon with the Prime Minister then confirming that exams will not go ahead as planned in the summer as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Some schools in Shropshire had already announced full closures and others said certain year groups would be told to stay at home due to high levels of staff shortages.
Meanwhile events across the region continue to be cancelled and Boris Johnson promised to protect private renters from eviction due to the coronavirus crisis.
It came as the number of people to have died after testing positive for Covid-19 in the UK reached 104.
Eleswhere, The Restaurant Group (TRG), which owns Wagamama and Frankie & Benny’s, has warned that sales are “getting worse by the day” as several of its peers said they were taking a serious hit from coronavirus.
Key developments:
Schools to close across the UK from Friday apart from for children of key workers.
Some schools in Shropshire have already closed or partially closed.
UK death toll now stands at 104.
Globally the number of infections is put at more than 200,000.
A third patient in Scotland diagnosed with Covid-19 has died.
The FTSE 100 continued its downward slump with a more than five per cent drop this morning wiping around £68 billion off the value of London's biggest companies.
A baby has tested positive for Covid-19 at the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston in Norfolk, the second reported UK case among infants.
The youngest person to die in the UK to date has been named as 45-year-old Craig Ruston, who had motor neurone disease. He died on Monday after his chest infection was diagnosed as Covid-19.
Filming on EastEnders and BBC Studios dramas including Casualty, Doctors, Holby City, Pobol y Cwm and River City will be postponed until further notice.
Latest updates:
These updates are no longer being added to.
