Coronavirus: Boris Johnson will announce a new alert system

LONDON | Boris Johnson will present to MPs on Monday a new system with three alert levels that will determine the measures to be applied in English regions depending on the spread of the coronavirus, his services said on Sunday, the north of England preparing for a tightening of restrictions.

• Read also: All the developments of the pandemic

The British Prime Minister will speak in the afternoon in the House of Commons, the lower house of parliament, after having chaired, Monday morning, a crisis meeting of his government “to determine the last interventions to be announced in parliament” .

The new alert system plans to divide England into different alert levels (“medium”, “high” and “very high”), depending on the spread of the virus, which will determine the measures to be applied locally.

MEPs will debate and vote during the week on these measures, intended to simplify and clarify decisions in the fight against the virus.

Boris Johnson will then speak to the nation at a televised press conference, alongside Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Health Services Chief Chris Whitty.

“This is a critical time and it is absolutely vital that everyone follows the clear guidelines we have given to help contain the virus,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.

Boris Johnson’s main advisers and the minister responsible for local government, Robert Jenrick, discussed over the weekend with elected officials from the North West, an area particularly affected by the virus, without preventing the resentment of the latter. Elected officials fear the closure of pubs and cafes and consider the measures to support employment insufficient.

“We will not abandon people in the face of adversity and businesses in the face of bankruptcy,” Labor Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said on Saturday, even waving the threat of legal action.

The United Kingdom, the hardest hit country in Europe with more than 42,800 dead, recorded nearly 13,000 new cases on Sunday.