THE coronavirus crisis means Hampshire residents can't leave their homes unless it is essential.

Daily Echo:

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson announced people should only leave home to exercise once a day or to travel to and from work "where absolutely necessary".

In light of the new measures, Southampton's usually busy streets are deserted.

With employees forced to work from home, there are far fewer cars on the roads.

Daily Echo:

The government's rules mean people can only shop for essential items and fulfil any medical or care needs.

On Monday night the PM ordered all shops selling non-essential goods to close immediately.

The Government has said that every citizen must comply with the new measures.

Police now have the powers to enforce them "through fines and dispersing gatherings where people do not comply".

Officers are patrolling the city streets ensuring people are safe.

Meanwhile, supermarkets have restricted the amount of shoppers entering at one time.

Hampshire has 207 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to the latest figures published last night.

The county still has the highest number of cases in the UK.

A quarter of the world's population is now living under some form of lockdown

It is hoped that once the coronavirus lockdown is lifted the infection can be kept at manageable levels, an expert has said.

Professor Neil Ferguson, who is recovering from Covid-19 himself, told the Science and Technology Committee measures taken by the Government could tip the outbreak from a growing epidemic to a declining epidemic.

The director of MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Imperial College London, also explained there was some uncertainty, but that if current measures work as expected, then intensive care demand would “peak in approximately two to three weeks and then decline thereafter”.

Prof Ferguson told the committee current predictions were that the NHS would be able to cope if strict measures continued to be followed.