BRITAIN is now exactly two weeks behind Italy's coronavirus death toll – as the PM warned the NHS could be "similarly overwhelmed" in the coming days.
Yesterday the number of deaths from Covid-19 in the UK jumped to 233, mirroring the figure in Italy on March 7. Italy's toll has since risen to 4,825, making it the hardest-hit country in the world.
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The country has been locked down for almost two weeks with schools shut and movements restricted.
In a stark message to the country, Mr Johnson said the NHS was in danger of being "overwhelmed" in the same way as the Italian healthcare system unless people followed government advice on "social distancing".
A further seven patients died from coronavirus in Wales today.
On Friday night, Boris Johnson ordered pubs, restaurants, theatres, cinemas and gyms to shut their doors to slow the accelerating spread of the deadly virus.
Other EU countries had introduced the tough measures days earlier – and the government has faced criticism for not doing likewise.
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The PM acknowledged the government was imposing measures "never seen before either in peace or war", but said they were essential as the outbreak gathered pace.
He said: "The numbers are very stark, and they are accelerating. We are only a matter of weeks – two or three – behind Italy. The Italians have a superb health care system. And yet their doctors and nurses have been completely overwhelmed by the demand.
"The Italian death toll is already in the thousands and climbing. Unless we act together, unless we make the heroic and collective national effort to slow the spread – then it is all too likely that our own NHS will be similarly overwhelmed."
Meanwhile Connor McAnish, a British doctor who works at the Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo, in one of the worst affected regions in Italy, described an "endless stream" of patients.
He said: "They've had to build a tent outside the hospital [and] there are burials about every 30 minutes in the cemetery.
"With so many patients coming in, when someone dies it's almost as if we say, 'OK we couldn't do anything for this person, now we can take another person and see if their condition will improve'".
In Italy yesterday 793 people died from Covid-19, equating to an average of 33 deaths per hour.
Italy overtook China as the country worst affected by the virus on Thursday.
The Italian government has now ordered that all businesses must close until April 3 in its latest desperate effort to halt the epidemic.
Anyone caught on the street without a valid reason faces a £185 fine and soldiers have been drafted in to patrol the northern city of Milan. Officials have also taped off benches to avoid people sitting on them.
The Lombardy region, where Milan is the capital, is the hardest hit with 546 deaths yesterday.
Yesterday the government banned all outdoor sporting activity nationwide unless it was close to home and food shops in stations must now shut.
The average age of victims in Italy is 80, while the average age for infections is 63.
HOW ARE LOCKDOWNS BEING ENFORCED IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES?
Countries around the world are now enforcing lockdowns and nationwide quarantines, but the punishments for flouting them vary from place-to-place
In Spain, residents face fines starting from £90 or even imprisonment if they disobey authorities.
A total of 350 arrests have been made and 31,000 fines handed out to people flouting the restrictions.
One couple caught having sex in a car told police they shared a flat with too many people to get intimate under lockdown, while another four people were fined after being caught taking it in turns to take the same dog for a walk.
The government has also said that any company that can help in the extra production of diagnosis material and protective equipment like masks, glasses, or gloves must contact them or face a fine.
Authorities in China, the first country in the world to report cases, earlier deployed a fleet of drones through which they could talk to people and encourage them to go home.
They also set up checkpoints on the streets and at the entrance of residence buildings where people had to get their temperature checked before passing.
In Italy, Europe's worst-hit country, authorities so far charged over 40,000 people with ignoring the lockdown.
The face fines of £190 and three-month prison terms.
In France, anyone caught outside without justification is being given a fine equivalent to £128, while repeat offenders face detention and ultimately imprisonment.
President Emmanuel Macron this week expressed concern that people were not understanding the severity of the crisis.
In Australia, fines as high as £25,000 could be handed out to people failing to isolate themselves appropriately.
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