Shoppers queue in the rain as UK braces for London lockdown

British shoppers were queuing around the block early on Thursday morning in London to buy basic goods such as bottled water and tinned goods ahead of an expected toughening of measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

Reuters reporters saw more than 100 people queuing in the rain before the 7 opening of a large Sainsbury’s store in Clapham Common, south of the river Thames, while a few miles away in Vauxhall queues snaked around another Sainsbury’s store.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has joined the country’s biggest supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons in urging shoppers not to stockpile, but the pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

Supermarkets have been forced to limit purchases after frantic shoppers stripped shelves.

Such is the demand for basic ambient goods that Ocado , a pioneer in online shopping, has had to stop new customers from signing up after seeing a several hundred percentage increase in web traffic.

Most supermarkets are still taking online orders but they will not be delivered for up to three weeks.

The country is bracing for the virtual shut down of London as underground train stations across the capital closed and Johnson mulled tougher measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis.

After ordering the closure of schools, Johnson on Wednesday said the government was ruling nothing out when asked whether he would bring in measures to lock down London.

Johnson has asked the government to come up with plans for a so-called lockdown which would see businesses closed, transport services reduced, gatherings limited and more stringent controls imposed on the population of one of Europe’s richest city.

Pressed at a news conference whether tougher measures were needed to shut down London where bars, public transport and businesses remain busy, Johnson said: “We’ve always said we’re going to do the right measures at the right time.”

London’s transport authority said it would close up to 40 underground train stations until further notice and cut down other services including buses and trains, including the whole of the Waterloo & City line.

“People should not be travelling, by any means, unless they really, really have to,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said.

Britain has so far reported 104 deaths from coronavirus and 2,626 confirmed cases, but UK scientific advisers say more than 50,000 people might have already been infected.

Britain faces a “massive shortage” of ventilators that will be needed to treat critically ill patients suffering from coronavirus, after it failed to invest enough in intensive care equipment, a leading ventilator manufacturer said.