Latest Insights | September 2022
Significant numbers do remain somewhat concerned about Covid, with 39% ‘agreeing’ or ‘strongly agreeing’ that they are worried about catching Covid, while 55% say that they are worried about others they know falling ill with it.
- However, only 9% ‘strongly agreeing’ they are worried about catching Covid, which is much lower than the 13% who said so in Spring 2022.
- A slightly less reduced 15% ‘strongly agree’ that they are worried about others they know catching it, down from 18% six months ago.
- A majority of 53 % think they can avoid catching or spreading it with precautions, while 39% say they have stopped making Covid-specific lifestyle adjustments altogether - and we can speculate this is in fact far higher in practice, given that 61% say that ‘it is time for people to get back to normal’.
- That said, only a minority of 31% say that they consider the Covid pandemic to be ‘effectively over’ in the UK, although this is up from 25% in the spring.
Attitudes towards safety measures
There remains widespread support for various Covid safety measures:
- Oddly, 76% still consider ready availability of hand sanitiser indoors ‘very important’ or ‘important’, narrowly behind enhanced ventilation at 79%.
- Social distancing was the least popular measure, with only 51% rating it as ‘very important’ or ‘important’.
- Masks and ventilation were rated as much more important indoors compared to outdoors (54% cf. 36% and 79% cf.49% respectively).
There is, however, a sense that Covid’s threat is receding:
- Only 13% think the risks of catching/spreading Covid are ‘very high’ or ‘high’ from everyday activities outside the home (but 30% for indoor events).
- Looking ahead, 36% think it is ‘very likely’ that it Covid will have an impact in 6 months, 18% in a year and 14% in two years.