UK public in favour of continued lockdown

The Opinium poll for The Observer has found that the majority of the British public are in favour of continuing the coronavirus lockdown.

With the government claiming that the country has now passed the peak of coronavirus infections, more than four in five Britons are against lockdown measures being eased for schools, pubs and restaurants. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to soon detail a ‘road map’ for easing measures.

However, only 17 per cent of the 2,000 people polled thought the time was right to consider reopening schools, with fewer thinking that conditions had been met to allow cinemas, sporting stadiums and nightclubs to open their doors. Nearly 80 per cent of people were continuing to follow lockdown restrictions into their sixth week.

Despite this, bending lockdown rules is unsurprisingly beginning to happen more. A quarter of people said they had left their home for exercise for more than an hour, 15 per cent had used the premise of shopping for essentials as a reason for being outside, and 13 per cent had met up with friends and family for a walk.