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The government has announced a new slogan for the next stage of the coronavirus fight, but it has not been well received.
After “staying home, saving lives, protecting the NHS,” the British are now being told to “stay alert, control the virus, save lives.”
But many have criticized the wording, in particular the idea that people should be alert to a virus that, by its nature, is invisible.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling wrote on Twitter: “Is coronavirus sneaking around with a fake mustache and glasses?
Andy Burnham, the Labor mayor of Greater Manchester, tweeted that “I find it a mistake to drop the clear” message of staying home.
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Dave Ward, secretary general of the Communication Workers Union, said: “The messages from this government throughout this crisis have been a total joke, but its new catchphrase takes it to a new level.”
He added: “Stay alert? It’s a deadly virus, not a zebra crossing.”
Writer and comedian Adam Kay added that it would be “difficult to stay alert to something that has a diameter of 0.0001 millimeters. This pandemic will have as many spikes as a coronavirus.”
Junior Dr Julia Simons tweeted, “Can someone please tell you that Boris coronavirus is not a physical assailant? You can’t be alert to single-stranded RNA.”
The slogan is expected to be officially revealed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson tonight as part of a coronavirus alarm system.
The system will have five levels that will provide a route to the end of the blocking restrictions.
Johnson will urge workers who are unable to work from home to begin returning to their workplaces while following the rules of social distancing.
He will chair an emergency Cobra committee meeting with cabinet ministers, delegate nation leaders and London Mayor Sadiq Khan before his prerecorded speech at 7pm.
More than 31,000 people have died in the UK after testing positive for the coronavirus.
