"Stay alert", the watchword of Boris Johnson before the deconfinement of England

No longer say "stay at home" but "stay alert". Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled a new slogan on Twitter on Sunday May 10 as he prepares to unveil his strategy for gradual deconfinement in England. He calls for caution in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 31,000 people in the country, the second most bereaved in the world.

Everyone has a role to play in helping to control the virus by staying alert and following the rules.

This is how we can continue to save lives as we start to recover from coronavirus. StayAlert pic.twitter.com/2z9yl1Fxs4

Nuancing the instructions in force, he asked to stay at home "as much as possible" and to "limit contact".

A deconfinement in stages

To alleviate the containment, decreed on March 23, the government wishes to proceed in stages, with a new alert system that will keep the population informed of the danger level of the pandemic.

"For the moment, we think that the country is at 4 on a scale of 5, 5 being the (level) the most worrying and we want to bring it back as quickly as possible to 3", described the minister responsible for Communities, Robert Jenrick, on Sky News, Sunday.

"And at each stage, we will be able to open and restart more aspects of the economy and our lives," he said.

The government will adapt its response based on data compiled by a biosecurity center. Specific measures may be implemented in certain regions depending on the evolution of the virus.

Pressure is hanging over the head of government to ease the containment, which has considerable economic consequences. The Bank of England thus forecasts a historic fall of 14% in gross domestic product this year in the United Kingdom. And public acceptance of these rules seems to be slackening, some parks having found themselves crowded this weekend, marked by sunny weather.

But for now, only modest adjustments like the reopening of gardening stores and the possibility of going out to exercise more than once a day are expected. Because if the peak of the epidemic has passed, the country is negotiating a delicate turning point, explained Boris Johnson to the tabloid The Sun, using a mountain metaphor.

"Mountaineers always say that descending from the top is the most dangerous part. This is when you risk being overconfident and making mistakes," said the conservative leader, who was himself affected by the virus.

A nation-by-nation approach

The measures he will announce at 8 p.m. (6 p.m. GMT) will concern England only, each of the four constituent nations of the United Kingdom independently determining its containment strategy. The government hopes for a common approach and will hold talks with the leaders of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales later today.

However, they have already been reluctant to depart from the original recommendations.

"Given the critical juncture in the fight against the virus, 'Stay at home, save lives' remains my clear message to Scotland for now," tweeted Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

STAY HOME. PROTECT THE NHS. SAVE LIVES.

The Labor opposition also judged that this injunction to "remain vigilant" would leave people "perplexed".

To prevent a resurgence of cases, the government plans to force travelers arriving in the United Kingdom to observe a quarantine period of fourteen days, which worries the air sector, already very destabilized by the pandemic.

With a view to deconfinement, the government has also increased its screening and tracing capacity and wants to reach 200,000 daily screenings at the end of the month.

Like many other countries, the United Kingdom plans to rely on a tracking application, which is currently being tested on the Isle of Wight (south), before being generalized in a few weeks. The application, which is intended to warn anyone who has been in contact with a person tested positive, was downloaded in one week by 50,000 people, according to the government.

Full government plan to be presented to MPs on Monday

With AFP

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