Behind a lectern, staring down a camera at the nation, the boy who wanted to be world king would be forgiven for having second thoughts. The prime minister who only ever sought power for power’s sake, who prefers soundbites to substance and bluster to truth, will now be leading Britain through the greatest public health emergency in a generation.

On Monday, protesters gathered outside the gates of Downing Street dressed in hazmat suits, gloves and face masks to press Boris Johnson to put the UK “into lockdown” to tackle the coronavirus. Only 36% of Britons trust Johnson on coronavirus, according to a new poll, with many believing greater measures are needed. This can only have been stoked by interventions from a large number of scientists and politicians – rightly or wrongly – strongly criticising the UK’s outlier strategy.

If faith in the government is low, worried individuals will take things into their own (thoroughly washed) hands. One international online campaign – succinctly named “Stay the fuck home!” – has emerged with the aim of stopping the coronavirus spreading. “Our governments are failing us,” the website claims. “Slow reactions, public appeasement policies, and their urge to stabilise the economy are keeping them from taking the measures it takes to protect millions from this disease.”

People with underlying health conditions, meanwhile, have taken to Twitter to form a plan; search #HighriskCOVID19 and you’ll see a sea of faces listing their medical history in a bid to ask the public to help protect them. In the vacuum of clear guidance, social media is becoming a sort of digital triage, where people use their accounts to survey strangers for answers on how to stay safe. Should we be visiting elderly relatives at all? Schools aren’t closing as yet but what if our children have compromised immune systems, should we keep them off? How are disabled people, soon expected to “cocoon” at home, going to work or get our kids to school?

It’s worrying to see such measures spring up from grassroots groups rather than government, but the online world is not alone in taking unilateral action. Care homes and sporting bodies have taken unprecedented action in recent days against government advice.

The effect of communities taking matters into their own hands was remarkable: by Saturday, Johnson had U-turned and banned mass gatherings across the UK from next weekend, increased police detainment powers and lowered the threshold for social care standards. During the day further measures were announced via unattributed government sources.

Come Sunday, Matt Hancock was sent to the TV studios to confirm elderly – and presumably, young disabled – people could soon be asked to isolate for four months. Although Scottish officials later stressed that this wouldn’t involve cutting off all contact. Finally, bowing to pressure, Johnson announced daily ministerial press conferences on the crisis.

In the first briefing on Monday, people were asked to avoid all but essential contact. The result of all this has been at best unanswered questions, and at worst frantic confusion for those with low immunity or worrying about an elderly parent.

Some pundits are criticising the public for questioning ministers – as if this is too “political” – but blind allegiance isn’t your priority if your seven-year-old daughter has muscular dystrophy. Worried families have no time for partisan point-scoring in a time of national emergency; they just want to be able to have faith in the leader of the day.

This pandemic is showing why trust between governments and citizens is important, and it is an irony of fate that the very man who did so much to challenge faith in the UK establishment in recent years now requires it. Time may prove that Johnson’s team’s plan is superior to his European counterparts; there are no easy answers here and few certainties. But one thing is clear: in the coming months, trust in what’s coming out of Downing Street is going to be increasingly vital. The government’s task is not only to keep the public safe but to convince them that it can. One of those tasks may prove as tricky as the other.

• Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist