Will the Staying Alert send out mixed messages

Going back to work is conditional, only if you can’t work from home!

Baggs yes, I think we do agree on many points.

SirCenjin like you, I think there probably will be a spike.

I agree with notanan2 in that we do need to think for ourselves, and in fact I’ve seen many posts across various threads, from Gransnetters who have stated that they will be continuing to isolate themselves for a while longer.

I don’t think we’ll be going to the hairdresser yet vegansrock because shops are still not allowed to open, other than food/ essential shops. You and I may very well think hairdressing shops are essential, but clearly they are not considered to be so by government.

Overall I didn’t find the message confusing. People should continue to work from home wherever possible. If a person cannot work from home they can go back to work, on Wednesday of this week, but social distancing must be continued. Shops may not open yet. Schools will probably open for YearR, Year 1, and Year 6, but not before June. We can go out for exercise more than once a day, and can travel to wherever we want to exercise ( I don’t take that to mean a day out at the seaside but Covididiots probably will)

It's hardly a question of thinking for yourself but interpretation of laws enforced by the police. There's also health and safety legislation and new Covid specific rules that employers need to understand and apply. Public transport usage will increase from tomorrow, who knows what that will mean for social distancing guidelines. This is a difficult time, with serious implications.

You have got a point notanan2

It all started with apparent confusion over Boris’s’stay alert’ message !

Isn’t it perfectly obvious what he means by it?

Yeah, that’ll be it

People need to start using their judgement and being adults again. We cant be micromanaged forever. Those complaining about mixed messages just dont want to go back to thinking for themselves IMO

Yes - but only if you can work 2m apart (although no guidance on how employers can do that or if employees can refuse to return and keep their jobs if employers can’t guarantee the distancing) and only if your employer is in the same country. So, if you live in England but work in Wales, Scotland or N Ireland then you can’t return.

This Govt is always light on detail and heavy on the soundbites and buck passing - this latest nonsense from Bozza is only to be expected.

So everyone who can’t work from home can go to work tomorrow but not on public transport. Clear as mud. Can my hairdresser cut my hair outside whilst wearing ppe? We can make car journeys but how far? Load of piffle.

Yay! Every cloud and all that...!

Or perhaps SirChenjin - this doesn’t mean the epidemic is easing, but now there is room for you in ICU!

The meaning is "do what you think best and if the infection rate increases it will be your fault not mine

Exactly this.

There was waffle at the beginning and waffle at the end. At least if you count him repeating stuff we hear everyday ad nausium at the daily briefing. It was a waffle sandwich. The bit in the middle was reasonably informative but couched in very simple language to get the simple message over to simple minds. Likewise the pleasantly pictorial simple illustrations.

He knew his audience and what would please them, but more importantly, what was necessary to help them understand. Simple.

Stay alert is inexplicit . What one should be alerted too is not specified. The meaning is "do what you think best and if the infection rate increases it will be your fault not mine" .

Anyone with a basic understanding of English language will be able to follow the simple rules set out today.

Certain workers can carry on as they were and/or return to work.

If you can go to work, you must go to work.

If you have been working at home and your employer says you can carry on in that manner, then you do but if requested to return to the workplace, you must.

Keep your distance (like the 2 second rule in driving)

Exercise and drive to exercise freely but only with members of your own household.

Wash wash wash your hands, frequently.

That's all for now folks. ?
Watch out for the next series on BBC where members of the public will be able to question BJ.
Whether they get any believable answers, is a moot point.

MiniMoon I once saw this slogan/graffiti painted on a railway bridge.,

Be Alert! Britain needs lerts.’

Your grandson sounds lovely.

There was no ‘incoherent waffle’ from Johnson tonight, it was a clear message of how we will be proceeding.
Fine detail in 50 pages to be discussed in Parliament tomorrow for those who enjoy crossing every t.

.....and nor are we here in England either Grammaretto

I agree with Urmston. This country was not ready for a pandemic and it was warned.
All I heard today was a lot more incoherent waffle from Boris. Alert?
I am always alert. How patronising. Are we supposed to recognise the virus and be alert to it?
At least Nicola realises that mistakes have been made and we in Scotland will need to isolate for a lot longer.
Boris said "we" have saved 500,000 lives by keeping to the lockdown.
There has been a terrible death toll and it isn't over yet.
People coming off planes have not been quarantined.
We aren't going to be back to "normal" any time soon.

I imagine that the message will become very clear again once the figures start to spike again in England. I’m very glad that I live in one of the three parts of the UK which is exercising caution with a very clear and unambiguous message.

We seem to agree on several points, maddyone, such as the need to compare like with like and that world wide travel has probably caused the virus to spread quicker than it might have otherwise.

I don't think the virus can be suppressed or defeated completely. I think we're going to have to learn to live with it. Roll on vaccination and, if it's possible, herd immunity.

dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/out-of-the-mouths-of-babes-and-sucklings

MiniMoon 'From the mouths of babes' etc.

Staying alert certainly confused my 7 year old (possibly autistic) grandson.
What he heard was you must be a lert. Looking rather baffled he asked his mum what is a lert?
My daughter, hiding her amusement, explained the meaning of the word alert.
He then went on to say "that's silly, how can you be alert to something you cannot see".
So, he isn't going out to the park as you can't see the virus on the play equipment.

Baggs yes I realise that. New Zealand is very different from the UK in many ways and I’ve pointed that out on a couple of threads where posters have complained that we’ve failed with Covid19 whereas New Zealand has been successful. You have to compare like with like to come to valid conclusions.
I already knew that the UK is a hub for flights, but I do think that causes us huge problems because huge numbers of people pass through our airports. It’s certainly not as easy to close our borders as it is for some other countries, but France and Denmark temporarily closed their borders, and I believe we could have done that. Perhaps we would have done the world a favour, because if people couldn’t travel through Britain, then maybe it would have been too difficult to travel, and if there were fewer people traveling, Covid19 would have been suppressed. World wide travel is what has caused this virus to infect the world so quickly.
And in any case, why is all this travel so immediately imperative that it simply can’t wait, even though we’re in the middle of the worst pandemic for a hundred years?

I'm not sure the slogan needed to be changed but there are people whose job it is (and who are highly paid!) to come up with new ideas for the government to use. Our DD has a friend who works on enhancing politicians' personalities!