A huge row has erupted as construction workers were told to go in as usual and pack onto crowded trains, but ordered to stay two metres apart.
Last night the Government insisted that if people could not work from home – including all builders on sites – they could carry on going in as long as they were safe.
However, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon have both said they should be staying home too like most of the country.
Yesterday footage emerged of builders and other workers cramming themselves into trains and tubes to get to work.
But this morning ministers insisted the building work would contain vital maintenance that simply had to be done.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick was taken apart by the Good Morning Britain host earlier.
He said: “We have to keep essential services and the economy moving forward.
And he stressed that essential works included making sure buildings were safe, installing boilers, and making sure dangerous cladding was ripped off buildings had to be done.
But ANY firm that can’t make sure people are two metres apart at all times should close down, he said.
Some firms have already done so.
“In construction a number of employers have decided they cant follow the Public Health England guidance and choosing and shut down their sites,” he told the BBC.
“That is the right thing to do.”
The sector contributes £117bn with 2.4million jobs – which is around seven per cent of all jobs in the UK.
There are also major building projects that are still under way including the construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station – Britain’s first nuclear plant in decades – HS2 and Crossrail.
Thousands of workers report to these sites with 4,000 at Hinkley, making it the country’s biggest construction project.
Ms Sturgeon has demanded all building sites in Scotland close after workmen were pictured crammed into a portacabin.
Photos showed construction staff huddled in the tiny room as they continued work at £70m university building in Edinburgh yesterday.
A source said: “This is a Balfour Beatty daily briefing of over 20 to 30 men in the one room
“There’s not a mask on any of them.
“Even the cleaner has been sent home so no-one is there at the moment to clean the toilets or canteen areas.”
