The UK government has stated that all shops carrying "non-essential" goods including electronics and video games are to close effectively immediately in a move to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
As reported by the BBC, UK prime minister Boris Johnson addressed the general public stating that due to the ongoing spread of the virus, stores that do not carry essential goods must shut down and people must remain at home for the next three week outside of only necessary travel.
These travel guidelines have been outlined by the government.
Stores such as GAME and CEX opted to initially stay open during the pandemic, but will now be forced to close due to the new guidelines.
"Must stay at home"
"From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction - you must stay at home," said Johnson.
"To ensure compliance with the government's instruction to stay at home, we will immediately:
- "Close all shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship
- We will stop all gatherings of more than two people in public - excluding people you live with
- And we'll stop all social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals"
The coronavirus has had a massive effect on all industries including games with numerous events and shows all postponed or cancelled as a result. We set up a recap on how has the coronavirus has impacted the mobile games industry.
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