Mass gatherings to be banned in UK's fight against coronavirus

Boris Johnson had faced criticism for not taking such actions, despite similar steps being taken by other European countries as the pandemic worsens.

Emergency legislation bringing in beefed-up powers will be published next week and there could also be a move towards more people working from home, a Whitehall source said.

The announcement comes as the UK deals with a rising number of cases of the illness, increasing to 798, and a death toll of 11.

Earlier on Friday the World Health Organisation said Europe had become the epicentre of the pandemic and Donald Trump indicated he might add the UK to a list of countries facing a US travel ban.

On another day of dramatic developments in the spread of Covid-19:

* New restrictions are being imposed on visitor access to the Palace of Westminster and overseas travel by MPs and peers is being strongly discouraged to keep Parliament functioning during the crisis

* Mr Trump said the UK could be added to the list of European countries included in the US travel ban after he described cases of coronavirus as having risen "fairly precipitously" since the president initially announced the ban with the UK exemption

* The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland wrote to Stormont's education minister urging him to consider closing Northern Ireland's schools over coronavirus. It came on the day the first cases of community transmission of Covid-19 not linked to travel were detected there

* The death of the first patient in Scotland took the total for the UK to 11

* The London Marathon, scheduled to take place on April 26, was postponed until October 4

* The Football Association announced the Premier League will be suspended until at least April 4

* Next week's Champions League and Europa League matches were also postponed as was the Wales v Scotland Six Nations rugby match. England's cricket tour of Sri Lanka was also called off

* Local and mayoral elections in May were postponed for a year

* Disneyland closed its parks, including Disneyland Paris, until the end of the month and suspended new departures on its Disney cruises

* Four major cruise ship companies - Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and MSC Cruises - agreed to suspend trips from the US for 30 days

* A London Underground tube driver tested positive, while London's St Patrick's Day parade and celebrations on Sunday were cancelled

* The health minister in Wales announced the suspension of non-urgent surgical procedures and outpatient appointments, and said as many as 20,000 people could die in the country in a worst-case scenario

Scores of major sporting and cultural events have already been suspended, despite the Government resisting calls to ban mass events in its latest guidance earlier this week.