Twenty-six percent, or one in four people, in the United Kingdom have found the latest COVID-19 restrictions harder to follow than those imposed during the first national lockdown in spring, but the vast majority said they are still being as careful as before about following the rules, a research by Kings College London and pollster Ipsos MORI released on Tuesday said.
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st December, 2020) Twenty-six percent, or one in four people, in the United Kingdom have found the latest COVID-19 restrictions harder to follow than those imposed during the first national lockdown in spring, but the vast majority said they are still being as careful as before about following the rules, a research by Kings College London and pollster Ipsos MORI released on Tuesday said.
"One in four people (26%) say they've found it harder to follow the rules during England's second national lockdown than they did during the first, with bad weather, a feeling of being worn out by the crisis, and a belief that the restrictions are not being applied fairly among the reasons," the pollster found.
The findings, which are based on 2,244 interviews with UK residents aged 16-75 carried out online between November 20-24, also showed that 24 percent of the people said rules are easier to follow now, while 48 percent said they are more or less the same.
Among the 26 percent that found the restrictions harder to follow now, 44 percent said that bad weather had made it more difficult for them to socialize with families and friend outside, 42 percent said that they feel worn out by the crisis, and 34 percent claimed that they felt restrictions were not being applied fairly to everyone, or that they have less trust in advise given by the government.
According to Kings College Londons Policy Institute director Bobby Duffy, results show that there is no sign of widespread complacency or rebellion among the UK population.
"The British public have proved remarkably resilient throughout the coronavirus crisis," the expert said.
Duffy advised, however, that now that England is set to come out of its second lockdown on Wednesday, the UK government must try to rebuild confidence in its approach by clearly explaining to the public what it is doing and why.
The lockdown imposed on November 5 is going to be replaced by the three-tiered COVID-19 alert system which was originally introduced in October prior to the one-month nationwide lockdown.
According to the government, most parts of England's territory will be in the higher two tiers, meaning that bars and restaurants will have to operate under tight restrictions or remain closed, and that people from different households will not be allowed to mix indoors.
Parliament has yet to vote on the proposal on Tuesday, but a large number of lawmakers from the ruling Conservative Party have demanded that the government publish the evidence justifying its decision, while the opposition Labour Party has announced that it will abstain.
