UK PM Johnson launches new COVID-19 alert system as lockdown rules 'modified'

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has unveiled his blueprint for a gradual restarting of the UK's coronavirus-hit economy and a "conditional plan" to reopen the society under which people can spend more time outdoors with adequate social distancing measures.

In a televised address to the nation, Johnson, a COVID-19 survivor, unveiled a five-level alert system that the government will be constantly monitoring based on scientific data to track the rate at which the deadly virus is spreading referred to as the R rate.

"Though we have made progress in satisfying at least some of the conditions I have given, we have by no means fulfilled all of them. And so no, this is not the time simply to end the lockdown this week.

"Instead we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures," the prime minister said on Sunday in a pre-recorded statement.

The UK is one of the world's hardest-hit nations in the pandemic. On Sunday, a further 269 people died in the country after testing positive for the coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths to 31,855.

Johnson said that from Wednesday, people in the UK will be able to sunbathe in their local parks, exercise as much as they want and drive to other destinations.

In reference to the alert system, he said, "Level One means the disease is no longer present in the UK and Level Five is the most critical the kind of situation we could have had if the NHS (National Health Service) had been overwhelmed.

"Over the period of the lockdown we have been in Level Four, and it is thanks to your sacrifice we are now in a position to begin to move in steps to Level Three."
Clarifying the conditions in which businesses would reopen, Johnson said: "Throughout this period of the next two months we will be driven not by mere hope or economic necessity. We are going to be driven by the science, the data and public health. And I must stress again all of this is conditional, it all depends on a series of big ifs."
Unveiling the latest government stay alert slogan, Johnson said, We will come back from this devilish illness. We will come back to health, and robust health."