Less than 24 hours after confirming that it would continue trading, but with shorter opening times, Selfridges is temporarily shutting all of its U.K. stores due to coronavirus.

The company said on Twitter that it would shut as of 7 p.m. U.K. time on March 18. It will close four physical stores, in London, Manchester, Trafford and Birmingham, although the web site will continue trading.

It is with a heavy heart we have made the decision to temporarily close our four physical stores in London from 7 p.m. tomorrow evening; the store said.

The health, safety and wellbeing of our customers and team members is our utmost priority. We must do the right thing by the communities in which we live and work to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus,” it added. The company confirmed that the e-commerce site and social channels would remain up and running.

In a further statement, Selfridges added: We want to thank our customers and teams for their support during what has been, and continues to be, a very uncertain time for all of us. We look forward to welcoming our customers and teams back to our stores as soon as we can. The store added that employees will continue to be paid their contracted hours throughout the closure.

As reported on Tuesday, Selfridges was planning to operate with reduced hours, and had planned to keep normal hours on Sunday; “Despite everything going on around us, we are doing our best to continue to deliver; experiences and to connect with our customers, said Meave Wall, stores director at Selfridges.

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