London, Mar 19 (IANS): British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that schools in the country will close from Friday for all students except the vulnerable and those with key worker parents.

Noting that the government needs to keep the National Health Service (NHS) going to fight COVID-19, Johnson on Wednesday said children of health workers and police officers, among other key workers, together with the most vulnerable children, can still go to school, Xinhua reported.

Earlier, local authorities of Scotland and Wales have announced that schools will close from Friday. In Northern Ireland, schools closed at 5p.m. (1700GMT) Wednesday for students, although teachers are understood to be attending for another two days, according to local media.

As for the strengthening of actions in fighting COVID-19, the prime minister said: "We keep everything under continuous review and we will not hesitate in bringing forward further and faster measures where we think that is necessary."

Meanwhile, he also mentioned that a test to determine whether an individual has developed antibodies to tackle the coronavirus is "coming down the track".

British health authorities on Wednesday confirmed that 32 more people have died in the country after testing positive for COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 104.

The number of novel coronavirus cases in Britain reached 2,626 as of Wednesday morning, according to health authorities.