UK to bring legislate to force people to quarantine: Health Secretary

Britain will have the power to force people to quarantine if necessary as part of its strategy to fight coronavirus, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told BBC television on Sunday (March 15).

"We are going to take the powers to make sure that we can quarantine people if they are a risk to public health," he said. "I doubt we will need to use it very much because people are being very responsible and people need to be responsible."

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Hancock urged Britons to "buy what you need" and not to clear supermarket shelves because "there's an impact on others."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been criticized for not implementing more of the measures taken in other European countries, such as increasing social isolation and banning mass gatherings.

Hancock, however, said the government's plan was based on credible scientific advice, adding that the underlying data used for its modelling would be published in the coming days.

He said the concept of herd immunity - where the virus spreads through the population to increase overall resistance - was not part of the government's strategy.

He said the government was ready to ban mass gatherings if necessary.