LONDON - Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued new public advice on the coronavirus on Sunday ahead of his announcement on how to ease a nationwide lockdown, but warned he would proceed cautiously as th
e death toll in Britain, already the highest in Europe, continues to mount.
It urges people to stay at home "as much as possible" and limit contact with others, a more lenient message than previous rules to only go outside where necessary and to meet nobody outside your household. An alert system is also being developed to monitor the outbreak, which will inform when and how lockdown measures might be lifted - or tightened - at a national and local level.Johnson has been criticised for failing to take the outbreak seriously enough at the start, still shaking hands in early March and delaying the imposition of a lockdown.
But in an interview with the Sun on Sunday newspaper, Johnson warned that now was "the most dangerous bit"."Mountaineers always say that coming down from the peak is the most dangerous bit. That's when you're liable to be over-confident and make mistakes. There is some concern that the government's message to "stay alert" might sow confusion, with Scotland's first minister among the critics.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said the new "stay alert" message was about people taking "personal responsibility" by maintaining social distancing and washing their hands.
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