The prime minister is taking too big a risk with the health of the nation

Editorial: The slogan ‘Stay Alert’ gives zero guidance to people in doubt, while ‘Stay at Home’ left zero room for doubt

A woman wearing PPE reads a newspaper on the London Underground yesterday (AFP)

With unfortunate timing, Boris Johnson has published his “road map”, plus a 60-page explanatory gazetteer, to navigate England’s passage out of lockdown – just as Germany, which has been carefully relaxing its own restrictions, reports an apparent worsening in the infection rate, or R, to above 1. It would be remarkable indeed if, having ignored the lessons of Germany’s earlier successes, the government would now fail to take heed of Germany’s potential error.

To be fair to the prime minister, he recognises the challenge, and the risk. In his own words, “there can be no greater mistake” than to get this one wrong, and squander the collective efforts of the past weeks. It is, as he says, a “supremely difficult balance to strike”, and a “perilous moment”.

There is no rush to reopen the economy and society, and the measures themselves are relatively modest. There is little to object to, and they will be very welcome, particularly to hard-pressed parents.