The government's new public slogan for the next phase in the fight against coronavirus has fallen flat ahead of its proposed reveal tonight. 

"Stay alert, control the virus, save lives" is expected to be unveiled tonight by the Prime Minister as the new slogan, but it has not been widely welcomed.

After the successful bluntness of the shutdown message of “stay at home, save lives, protect the NHS”, Britons are now criticising the new 'ambiguous' message, which clearly drops the idea of staying at home.

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The SNP's Ian Blackford issued a scathing criticism on Twitter, and said: "What kind of buffoon thinks of this kind of nonsense.

"It is an invisible threat. Staying alert is not the answer; #StayHomeSaveLives is."

Kirsten Oswald MP said: "Stay Alert? What is that even supposed to mean? It’s a virus. It’s invisible. You can’t avoid Coronavirus by paying extra attention."

Harry Potter author JK Rowling wrote on Twitter: "Is coronavirus sneaking around in a fake moustache and glasses? If we drop our guard, will it slip us a Micky Finn? What the hell is 'stay alert' supposed to mean?"

Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, tweeted that it "feels to me like a mistake to me to drop the clear" stay at home message.

Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, said: "The messaging from this government throughout this crisis has been a total joke, but their new slogan takes it to a new level."

He added: "Stay alert? It's a deadly virus not a zebra crossing."

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Writer and comedian Adam Kay added that it would be "difficult to stay alert to something that's 0.0001 millimetres in diameter. This pandemic is going to have as many spikes as a coronavirus".

However, there was praise for the new message from the Bruges Group think tank.

In a since-deleted tweet, it stated: “The Government’s new slogan is good. Green replaces red for a calmer feel. ‘Stay Alert’ replaces ‘Stay Home’ and underlines individual responsibility. ‘Control the Virus’ is a positive message. It’s within our power to achieve.”