Up to 40 stations across London were being closed on Thursday and the night tube service will be suspended at weekends, Transport for London announced.
The order comes as the city's mayor Sadiq Khan urged Londoners not to travel unless it is essential to do so.
"Londoners should be avoiding social interaction unless absolutely necessary, and that means they should be avoiding using the transport network unless absolutely necessary."
On Thursday morning, the government's communications team attempted to play down the prospect of a lockdown in the capital, a day after the prime Minister, Boris Johnson, declined to rule out stricter measures for the city.
On Wednesday, multiple government sources told CNN that conservations had taken place in Downing Street discussing measures ranging from shutting down parts of the capital's transport network to restricting travel in and out of the city. Similar reports appeared across the UK media.
On Thursday, the Prime Minister's spokesman said there was "zero prospect" of any restrictions on travel in and out of London and that there were "no plans" to shut down London's transport network. However, London's transport authority had already closed parts of London's Tube network, and the government did not rule out introducing further social distancing measures in the coming days.
London, by far the UK's busiest city, has been the worst-hit part of the country during the coronavirus pandemic. Of the 2,626 confirmed cases in the country, nearly 1,000 have been in London -- but health officials admit that the true number of people infected but not tested is likely far higher.
The Waterloo and City line, which runs between Waterloo and Bank stations, will also be suspended from Friday.
The Tube closures are intended to allow the city's "critical" workers, including hospital staff, to make essential journeys, TfL said.
But the measure highlights the severity of the situation in Britain's capital. London's famous subway system -- the oldest in the world -- is used by around 2 million people every day, and has not seen extended mass closures since the the 7/7 terror attacks in 2005 shut down parts of the service for almost a month.
"London will get through these extraordinarily challenging times, and ensuring the capital's critical workers can move around the city will be crucial," Khan said.
On Wednesday multiple sources told CNN that the UK government is considering a partial lockdown in London, amid concerns that residents in the capital are not heeding official advice to stay at home.
Discussions have been held in Downing Street about restricting travel in and out of the city, including shutting down parts of the capital's public transport network, and about how those measures would be enforced, the sources said.
Asked at the UK government's daily coronavirus press conference on Wednesday about whether London would see further legal restrictions, Johnson said: "We live in land of liberty, as you know, and it's one of the great features of our lives we don't tend to impose those sorts of restrictions on people in this country."
"But I have to tell you we will rule nothing out and we will certainly wish to consider bringing forward further and faster measures where that is necessary," he added.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiYmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNubi5jb20vMjAyMC8wMy8xOS91ay9sb25kb24tdW5kZXJncm91bmQtY2xvc3VyZXMtY29yb25hdmlydXMtZ2JyLWludGwtc2NsaS9pbmRleC5odG1s0gFmaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuY25uLmNvbS9jbm4vMjAyMC8wMy8xOS91ay9sb25kb24tdW5kZXJncm91bmQtY2xvc3VyZXMtY29yb25hdmlydXMtZ2JyLWludGwtc2NsaS9pbmRleC5odG1s?oc=5
2020-03-19 13:08:19Z
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