ALL cafes, pubs and restaurants have been instructed to close from Friday night on March 20.

UK Prime minister Boris Johnson announced the measures in the daily Downing Street press briefing in an attempt to tackle coronavirus.

Take-away food is exempt.

All UK cinemas, gyms, theatres, and leisure centres have also been asked to close "as soon as they reasonably can" and the situation, said the prime minister, will be reviewed each month.

Mr Johnson said the situation will be reviewed each month.

Chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak has said the government will pay 80 per cent of wages for employees who are not working, up to £2,500 a month.

Mr Johnson said the measures would be enforced "strictly" and that licensing arrangements will make doing so "relatively simple".

He urged people not to go out on Friday night.

"For now, at least physically, we need to keep people apart," he stated, adding: "The more effectively we follow the advice we are given, the faster this country will stage both a medical and an economic recovery in full."