Sadiq Khan has said there is ‘no risk’ in using the Tube amid the coronavirus outbreak (Picture: Rex/Getty)

Sadiq Khan has said there is ‘no risk’ of people catching coronavirus while travelling on buses or trains in the capital.

The Mayor of London has urged people to continue to use the Tube and go to concerts despite the outbreak of the disease. So far in the UK, 39 people have tested positive to the virus.

Mr Khan said it is ‘important we don’t spread panic or alarm’ and urged politicians to ‘reply upon the best advice we have from the public health experts and from the chief medical officer’. He told Good Morning Britain today: ‘There is no risk in using the Tube or buses or other forms of public transport or going to a concert.’



It comes as a City Hall source said the mayor was unhappy to have been excluded from the government’s emergency Cobra meeting to discuss coronavirus yesterday. The source said people might think it was ‘a bit strange’ he was not invited, given the size of London, its status as a global travel hub, its large transport network and its sport and entertainment venues.


Londoners should not worry about taking the Tube or going to concerts amid the outbreak of coronavirus, the Mayor of London has said (Picture: Getty)

Mr Khan is due to meet senior officials and health specialists from across the capital to review preparations for dealing with the outbreak, but said: ‘I want to reassure Londoners that although the risk of coronavirus to individuals remains low, we are not complacent.

‘I’m in regular contact with Public Health England to ensure we have the latest advice and to monitor the impact on our city.’

Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan accused the London mayor of ‘spreading mixed messages’ over his relaxed tone. He interrupted Mr Khan and said: ‘No disrespect but how on earth can you say in a city of 12 million people there is no risk given that we know it’s here and it’s beginning to spread here?’

The Mayor of London answered: ‘Because I rely upon the advice I receive from Public Health England the chief medical officer and the advice is you’re not going to catch it if you’re washing your hands regularly.

‘On the Tube, on a daily basis, there are five million journeys and on our buses, six million. Many of the concert venues in London have crowds of between 5,000 and 20,000.

‘The advice we have so far is it’s possible to contain it and delay it spreading by taking sensible precautions, washing your hands many times a day.’

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Boris Johnson will today update the public on the government’s battle plan for controlling the spread of coronavirus within the UK.

Health secretary Matt Hancock this morning warned that officials are looking into restricting participation in the London Marathon next month, which is the largest mass-participation sporting event in the world, over the ‘serious possibility’ of Covid-19 becoming a ‘pandemic’.

He said it is ‘far too early’ to make any definite decisions and that as things stand, the government is not advising the cancellation of big events or mass school closures.



Emergency legislation may be introduces, should the outbreak turn into a national crisis, he added.

‘There maybe things we have to do down the line that we don’t want to, but we will need the powers to do that hence proposing emergency legislation,’ Mr Hancock said.

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