In place of our daily event listings, we're compiling the latest coronavirus news, views and resources for Londoners — as well as things you can do, and the ways you can enjoy this great city — without the usual access you have to it.
We also want to flag up all the positive ways that Londoners are finding to deal with the crisis, from good deeds to witty photographs. Please email hello@londonist.com with any contributions.
Ideas to help, and reasons to be cheerful
- Brigade Bar + Kitchen in London Bridge is to hand out 500 freshly cooked meals a day to the area's vulnerable and disadvantaged. The kitchen is known for training up homeless people in chef and hospitality skills.
- A little good-news story and tip from our contributor Momtaz Begum-Hossain. "I popped to my local library today in Newham and because of corona they are wiping everyone's library fines, which I thought was a kind gesture. Such a lovely librarian too she reminded me I could take out 23 books (doubt I'd ever be able to carry that many!) but also about the fact that you can borrow free e-books and audiobooks too from an app called Libby wherever you are. So just thought that was a nice thing to do at home for free especially if you can't get to a library or when that lock-down happens."
Latest London coronavirus news
- There is 'zero chance' of a London lockdown, the government has said.
- 953 of the UK's 2,626 confirmed cases are in London, and at least 35 of its 104 deaths. (The numbers infected will be much higher in reality, as testing regimes only target a minority of the population.)
- Several tube stations have closed, with up to 40 facing the axe soon. The night tube is no more for now, and the Waterloo & City line is suspended indefinitely.
- Schools, nurseries and other education settings will be mostly closed after Friday. Some tips for parents.
- Westminster's morgue is getting a rapid expansion.
- Renting? Emergency legislation should make evictions impossible for those who can't keep up with rent.
- London club FOLD offers its space to the NHS.
- Daily Mash: "Mate in London proud he'll be in lockdown before everyone else".
And in other news
- Thameslink should be added to the tube map, finds a London Assembly report.
- Who was Annie Gold, of A. Gold's shop in Spitalfields? Lovely piece by Look Up London.
- A year in food... Diamond Geezer looks ahead to how we might be dining for the rest of the year.
- Somewhat bad timing for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.
Fact of the day
The 40 tube stations that may soon close include St John's Wood. As many trivia fans will know, this is the only station on the network to share none of its letters with the word mackerel. So, when the inevitable happens, the fact will no longer apply. Not that it'll crop up in a pub quiz any time soon...