Boris Johnson has announced schools will stay open and public events will continue, despite the coronavirus outbreak.
The Prime Minister said sending children home would cause more harm than good during today's press conference about the spread of the disease.
He also claimed there was little evidence to suggest banning mass gatherings would stem the outbreak.
The number of coronavirus cases in the UK has now hit 596, with the two deaths announced today bringing the total number of fatalities to 10.
Mr Johnson said: "We are not - repeat not - closing schools now. The scientific advice is that this could do more harm than good at this time.
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"But of course we are keeping this under review and this may change as the disease spreads. Schools should only close if they are specifically advised to do so."
The Prime Minister added that the Government is considering banning major public events, including sport fixtures.
He said: "The scientific advice... is that banning such events will have little effect on the spread.
"It is very important that we are guided by the science. There's very little epidemiological or medical reason at the moment to ban such events.
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"But there is also the issue of the burden that such events can place on public services.
"We are not saying no to that sort of measure - of course not - we are keeping it up our sleeve but it's very important that in order to maximise the benefits of our interventions that we get the timing right."
He also warned that "many more families" will lose loved ones as the coronavrius spreads across the UK.
In a chilling statement delivered this afternoon, Mr Johnson warned that many Brits are likely to die "before their time" amid the pandemic.
"We've all got to be clear, this is the worst public health crisis for a generation," he said.
"Some people compare it to seasonal flu, alas that is not right.
"Due to the lack of immunity this disease is more dangerous.
"It is going to spread further and I must level with you, I must level with the British public: many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time."
Today it was revealed that another two patients, an 89-year-old and a woman in her 60s, have died from the disease in London.
As of 9am today, 590 people were diagnosed with Covid-19 in the UK, up from 456 on Wednesday, after almost 30,000 tests.
It has since been announced that a further six people have tested positive for coronavirus in Wales, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 25.
The latest infections include 24 cases in Scotland, a paramedic with the East of England Ambulance Service, a University of Bristol student and a second staff member at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool.
Two new cases have been confirmed in Northern Ireland today, bringing the total to 20.
The Government has accepted that the outbreak can no longer be contained and has transitioned to the delay phase of its action plan.
