Are people really asking what it means...

[Whatsuppp]

Lots of posts on here asking what "stay alert" means. Surely these people are not really that thick to ask what it mean

The problem is everyone has a different idea of what 'staying alert' means. If you're risk averse that will be very different to someone who is pretty laid back generally.

We need to ask what will all these different interpretations of 'stay alert' do to the R number? I'm guessing it's not going to lower it. This is why it needs to be spelled out in the clearest terms possible what is actually expected of us.

I agree with the OP

Gosh. Everything is just crystal clear now!!

Go out? Yes.
Go to work? Yes.
Social distancing? Where possible, which let's face it is normal unless you make a habit of personal space invading.
Stay off public transport unless you need it? I mean; isn't that normal too?
What exactly are the police supposed to enforce now?
Talk about dropping g the ball the kicking it over the hedge into the path of a bus on fire.
Brilliant.

Pretty clear to me...

Social distancing remaining in place (so same rules as before regarding no mixing of households)

If you can go to work then you should, ideally by car, walking or bike. If not then public transport is running and they are giving them advice on how to enable social distancing

Clear dates as to when he expects certain things to get up and running (schools, leisure industry)

You can exercise more and also sit in the park as long as you social distance

Mentioned several times that more details are being released imminently

Larger fines for those flouting the rules

Not sure what wasn’t clear?

Clear dates as to when he expects certain things to get up and running (schools, leisure industry)

June - at the earliest

Yr10/12 students “may” get some time with teachers this side of the summer.

That’s not that clear.

But we’ll see what the publication says.

So you can't mix households but you can sit in the park with them if they're 2m apart...yes? You see to me those are still contradictory.

@SmileEachDay he can't give more specific dates because no one knows what will happen, if there will be a spike. He can't give an exact date.

@SmileEachDay he can't give more specific dates because no one knows what will happen, if there will be a spike. He can't give an exact date

I’ll reserve judgement until I see the document tomorrow. Other countries have given a dated timescale with the caveat that if specific milestones aren’t met, it will be revised.
Maybe the document will give that. His speech didn’t.

Other countries have given a dated timescale with the caveat that if specific milestones aren’t met, it will be revised.

I don't think this is a bad way to do it though. Just assume it will be in roughly 3 week chunks if it goes well. So for the rest of this month people should be working if they can and may spend more time outdoors. Otherwise no change.

June some children may go back to school and some shops will open.

July some leisure facilities will reopen. (I am an athletics coach, and we had been hoping and making plans for this to be the case).

Unfortunately OP common sense is no longer common. Yes people really are that stupid.

Some people are "thick" enough to not understand the meaning of stay at home! BUUUUT then again Boris isnt being very bloody clear is he?!

A friend has started a discussion on facebook about whether it's safe to start lifting the lockdown. A bit of a bun fight has broken out over what the new slogan means. I notice that the main 3 people shouting it down saying we should be staying at home 'until its over' & 'the government dont care if we die' are on furlough. Maybe the government felt the 'Stay home' message needed changing for that reason, that we cant wait for it to be over, we must live with a new normal.

He didn't say 'if you can go to work then you should'. He said 'anyone who can’t work from home, for instance those in construction or manufacturing, should be actively encouraged to go to work'. So if you can work from home you should still work from home. The decision about your return to work decision lies with your employer.

Completely agree with @lazylinguist
It is a vague and poor choice or word.
What am I supposed to be staying alert for?
Alertness doesn't relate to any of the specific instructions.
I have no difficulty in following all of the current advice, I'm not looking to break any rules.

Public information advice of this importance should have no ambiguity, it should be crystal clear and easy to follow instructions.
Stay home apart from these very clearly defined exceptions - that's very clear.
Stay alert - that's meaningless.

It's all very well complaining that people are just being thick and deliberately stupid but there are a lot of people who are going to need to follow this advice who have English as a second language, have learning difficulties or are poorly educated. So why choose a word that lacks clarity? Is it just to help you clever people feel all superior?

Disgusted by U.K. response. 2nd highest death toll in the world

What does it mean that the previous slogan and the guidelines around it didn't?
A pp said we keep social distancing and don't snog a random.... pretty obv in a pandemic i'd have thought?

Do other countries need slogans? is Merkel surrounded by a PR slogan?

Stay Alert means precisely whatever you choose it to mean, which is i guess the idea, put the responsibility onto the public.

Anyhow, as few if any of the 5 tests have been met, how can there be any lifting of restrictions? esp as we are supposed to be 2 or 3 weeks behind europe, his statement is at least 2 weeks too soon.

So what if employers insist their staff go back but their staff have children? Nurseries not open and grandparents or child minders can't look after them. Not all schools are open even for key workers. There are quite a few key workers (NHS) where I live and yet the 3 local schools are all totally closed.

What if the workers don't drive or, if they do, there is nowhere to park? Too far to walk so they have to use public transport. Maybe ok in some places but not in places like London, Manchester, Birmingham etc.

So do they lose their job or risk their life on transport?

Boris' "road map" was a bloody joke as I knew it would be. Me and DH are going to continue going absolutely nowhere as we have for 7 weeks even though DH is self employed so earning a grand total of nothing.

This is going to be a farce

It’s very vague - even if I am ‘alert’ it won’t stop me from catching the virus or my child from catching the virus. My child will be one of the first back in June and we will be at the mercy of this disease.

The language Boris uses places the onus on us, we have to be ‘alert’ as if we have control over this situation. In full lockdown, yes, we do. But in this new half arsed no mans land then no I don’t.

So that’s probably why we are all complete thickos who are unable to understand Boris.

Those who think the message was clear and can't see the inconsistencies in it are the thickest of the lot.

It's so easy to see the many flaws in what Johnson said tonight if you have any critical thinking capabilities.

It seems that people want defined rules on every little thing you can and cannot do. I don't understand why people can't apply some common sense and risk assess situations for themselves. I'm expecting a lots of threads tomorrow "Am I allowed to go in my friend's garden? Am I allowed to meet my sister for a walk? Can I get the bus..etc

100% agree. Some people don’t want to use any of their own initiative. They’ll then complain when rules aren’t exactly how they’d like them, or anticipate every little nuance.

People are blindly backing this government no matter the death toll because they voted them in in December. Sadly can’t admit they put the cross in the wrong box. Even sadder many votes for their own death that day due to this governments incompetence.

I don't understand why my friend's son will be on a train to work with 100+ people tomorrow but he can't pop round to see her.
I can't see how people can be expected at work tomorrow when they have no childcare from grandparents, nursery, childminders or school.
Why was this announcement made so soon before other average working week starts?

You can't see the virus, what exactly are we supposed to be alert for?

You can't see the virus, but it's spread by human contact and by contact with things that other humans have touched.

You can see other humans and door handles and pelican crossing buttons and petrol pumps.

So stay alert by trying not to let strangers get close enough to breathe on you, don't touch public things without cleaning your hands after and wipe things down/use gloves when necessary. We've had 7 weeks' training so it shouldn't be that hard to understand what we can do to protect ourselves now.