What does STAY ALERT mean to you?

[Weallhavevalidopinions]

The new slogan - Stay Alert....

Alert to what? Is the virus going to break into our homes?
Listen out for someone coughing then run a mile from them.

What on earth does Stay alert actually mean?

At least Stay home made sense stay alert means nothing at all or AIBU?

I think we all know what it means deep down, but as a message it's weak. It doesn't sound authoritative, it doesn't have a sense of danger or serious consequence.

out, not it is not. Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 remain in effect in England.

DH thinks the messaging is deliberately vague as the ‘herd immunity’ solution is back in play. If the government make the message open to interpretation then when loads of people start going out and mingling and the rate jumps up again the government can claim they had told people to ‘stay alert’ so it’s not their fault.

To be honest, yesterday I saw loads of guys hanging out together so the stay at home message is no longer working. I think too much recent news coverage has focused on deaths in Care Homes, of frontline health workers and the increased risk of death for BAME communities who are disproportionately in front line jobs so people outside of those groups don’t see it as a risk to them and have started becoming complacent.

I expect to see a spike in infections of young white males with previously unknown underlying health conditions in about 3 weeks.

The virus is invisible so staying alert is a meaningless slogan. It’s the not the same as noticing a bloke leaving a backpack on a train.

The messaging needs to be clearer and they also need to make it clear that although some groups maybe lower risk, that doesn’t mean no risk. I’m certain that if a large number of the furloughed and working from home groups started mingling that we’d see a big increase in the number of white middle class people ending up in ICU. At the movement we’re not seeing those groups falling ill as their chances of exposure is tiny.

Media jumping ahead, but this is on the government website. I’m guessing Boris will just read this new statement for half an hour,then we we will be more confused then ever.

Very vague information.

Maybe the government should have been alert weeks ago.

Would you say the same to a key worker who caught the virus whilst doing their job?

There’s no alternative, Everyone needs to minimise the risk both to yourself and fellow key workers. Everyone infected caught it from someone.

@Tellmetruth4

the messaging is deliberately vague as the ‘herd immunity’ solution is back in play.

Almost certainly.

Leflic That doesn't answer my question.

Would you tell a key worker don’t blame anyone else when you get it because you know the risks

The reason the stay at home message is not working is because we've tried to give the nation a bit of good news with 'past the peak' and 'increased testing' - both of which are true, but we've not really been hitting folks hard with the stay home message...

when the traffic numbers started to rise we could have screamed 'STOP IT', but we didn't. We just acknowledged it was happening without expressing much (if any) concern.

In many ways we've been giving contradictory messages. We are saying it's incredibly serious, but we are also claiming to have done a good job and got it under control. It is natural to relax when told 'it's under control'.

But no government wants to emphasis 'disaster' as a means to keep the population lockdown if it's going to be seen as their disaster.

When 10,000 idiots get the virus through their own actions... and an elderly 'innocent' person shows up in ICU but there are no beds or ventilators, because they're already treating the 10,000 idiots... how will that be the old person's fault?

It's like Boris has been written by the creators of Father Ted.
Careful Now

lol @ serin

DANGER!!! Mind how you go!!!

It means...stay alert.

I'm not sure why people are struggling to understand it to be honest.

I agree that the UK policy has always been herd immunity even though there is no strong evidence to show that this will be effective and it will almost certainly result in many many deaths.

It's not just about percentages up and down. You can have a country with 1,000 deaths one day and 900 deaths the next day and say that things are going well in comparison with a country that had 3 deaths one day and 5 deaths the next day, but it's not really true that the first country is doing better than the second country, is it?

Down with this sort of thing!

It means...stay alert. I'm not sure why people are struggling to understand it to be honest.

If stay alert was clear enough on it's own, there wouldn't be the need to clarify what was meant by it. However, even official posters have to explain what they mean by the term.

I'm sitting on my sofa eating a ham and cheese toastie.

How alert do I need to be.

I think we've got a bigger problem nationwide if people don't know what 'alert' means.

• Snatches toastie from Beetroot's plate -

More alert than that!

'Left blank for your own message'

How can we tell if someone is or isn't alert. What are we alert to?
Are they alert to the virus on the soles of their shoes, or on the park bench they are about to sit on... should be remind them 'oi Mr!!! are you alert???'

It's akin to saying 'look after yourself'. It's a nice sentiment but utterly ineffective. We all know what it is trying to say... keep up with what you're doing, don't forget to wash hands, keep distances etc' - but it's a very poor attempt.

Apparently it's lifted from the US warning for Sepsis:

Careful Now lol

Tbh Having read the guidance I think Stay Alert is even less appropriate, ‘being alert’ doesn’t generally mean ‘stay at home’ ‘follow a list of procedures’ ‘don’t get too close to people’. Say Cautious is more what the mean but ‘cautious’ isn’t peppy enough for this govt’s messaging.

Sooo... sticking with stay at home like all the other countries in the U.K. might have done it?

Another alternative: Don’t Stand So Close To Me

To many, it will mean just go back to normal and avoid large spherical corona "germs" floating towards you by getting out of their way and allowing them to float by. Many still seem unaware - or not bothered - that this is an invisible disease, that incubates symptomless in some, but can rip through the bodies of others without mercy.
Meaningless. pointless rhetoric. Utterly stupid.