LONDON - Britain will isolate older people "within weeks" and force into quarantine anyone diagnosed with coronavirus, the government said as it stepped up measures that have so far been less stringent than elsewhere in Europe.

The British Heath Secretary Matt Hancock said people aged over 70 would be shielded from the virus by self-isolating for up to four months, with an announcement "in the coming weeks".

Britain has taken a distinctly different approach to tackling coronavirus from European countries such as Italy, Spain and France which have imposed stringent lockdowns to try to slow the spread of the disease.

The number of deaths of Britons with coronavirus jumped by 14 in the last 24 hours to 35, while the total diagnosed rose by 20% to 1,372, health authorities said on Sunday.

Hancock said the rise in Britain had been slower than in other parts of Europe, in part due to measures taken by authorities to trace people who had contact with those affected.

Before word of the mayor's order came out, a New York police cruiser was seen in the East Village neighborhood, a pillar of the city's night life scene, telling patrons of bars and restaurants to disperse and go home. Several businesses closed up shop shortly afterward. (Reporting by Leela de Krester in New York Additional reporting by Brad Brooks in Austin, Texas. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

Reuters