Sadiq Khan has said that closing schools and shutting down the Tube could make the spread of coronavirus worse.

Independent mayoral candidate Rory Stewart has been leading calls for the government and Khan to be more aggressive in their response against Covid-19.

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In particular, he has called for schools to be shut down, public gatherings to be cancelled and for Khan to consider limiting public transport.

However, the mayor of London said today that these sort of drastic measures could “inadvertently make matters worse”.

Speaking to LBC this morning, he said: “We’ve got to be realistic about what we can expect from people.

“For example, those that said we should have closed our schools down two weeks ago that means closing our schools down for 20 weeks plus. Often it will be our grandparents, elderly, with underlying health conditions that will have to do the childcare.

“You could inadvertently make matters worse by taking measures such as closing down schools. If you stop the Tubes and the buses running, people will take different steps.

“They may start driving in central London or start doing other things that will spread the virus. If you cancel sporting events and you go and watch it in the pub, you’re more likely if there’s someone with coronavirus in a pub to catch it then if there’s 70,000 people.”

Boris Johnson is expected to announce the government’s new measures to stop of the contain the virus today, with some speculating increased precautions will be rolled out.

This could mean people being told to work from home if possible and to self-isolate if they display any flu-like symptoms.

However, Khan said he was concerned about the fact that there was no requirement for businesses to report anyone testing positive for Covid-19.

He said this could be of a particular concern in the private hire and ride-sharing sector.

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“You can understand for some people the temptation not to self isolate and if you’re feeling a bit flu-y or cough-y to just go on woking,” he said.

“I fear many working in private hire sector will carry on working…because the choice they’re making is putting food on the table or spreading the virus.”