A survey has found that while there is widespread public support for coronavirus restrictions people believe the local lockdowns this autumn were mismanaged by the government.

A recent survey by the University has found that while there is widespread acceptance of the new lockdown restrictions, 59 percent of the 3,600 respondents felt that the first national lockdown in March was eased too quickly. Only 22 percent of the people surveyed considered it to have been adequate. While many seem to accept the necessity of the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns, the majority of respondents believed that local lockdowns were ineffective and that the tier system was poorly handled by the government. When countries such as New Zealand and many in Asia are now ‘back to normal,’ the public is questioning how well the UK government has dealt with the crisis.

This survey report comes as another strict national lockdown has been announced. The vast majority of people appear to accept the restrictions as a necessary sacrifice. Professor Dan Stevens, a co-writer of the survey, said that the blame for rising cases should not be placed on the public, as “there still seems to be strong support for the idea of lockdowns.” Instead, the problem seems to lie with “the way restrictions are implemented.”

Editor: Elen Johnston