THE British government is to announce a COVID-19 alert system In England to track the virus.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce the new system this evening, Sunday, May 10 when he makes a televised address at 7 pm.
The system will rank the threat level from Coronavirus on a scale of one to five and be adjusted according to data.
Before his TV address he will have video conference COBRA calls with the First and deputy first ministers Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and the First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford to discuss his roadmap.
Scotland has extended its lockdown restrictions for a further three weeks as it fears the pandemic is not past its peak.
Wales will ease some restrictions from Monday, May 11 but the North of Ireland has not made any announcements yet on the way forward.
The Executive was due to release is roadmap on the way forward to the public last Thursday but this was put on hold until this week over the continued rise in deaths, particularly in care homes, and concerns people in some parts of the country were not adhering to the social distancing measure of two metres.
There have been 20 confirmed deaths in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area from Coronavirus since the outbreak with almost 160 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19.
During this evening’s televised address, the PM is expected to unveil a new slogan, telling the public to “stay alert, control the virus, save lives”.
He is not expected to provide exact dates for when the restrictions – first announced on March 23 – might change.
The new system will apply to England only but the government is working with the devolved administrations as they develop their own.
It is understood the system – with alerts ranging from green (level one) to red (level five) – will be similar to the one used to keep the public informed about the terror threat level.
Mr Johnson is expected to say England is currently at stage four but moving towards stage three.
The warning tool – to be administered by a new “joint biosecurity centre” – will also reflect the virus threat in different parts of the country, meaning the threat level in one city could differ quite widely from another.
Tags: