Four out of five adults say Britain will “learn to live” with Covid-19, a poll for the Standard revealed on Thursday as a row grew over ending mandatory wearing of face masks in many parts of England.
Twenty-five per cent are “very confident” that the country will come to terms with getting on with life alongside coronavirus, with a further 55 per cent “fairly confident,” according to the Ipsos MORI survey.
The findings came as a further 42,302 Covid-19 cases were announced on Wednesday for the UK, with 4,751 in London, and days before lockdown laws are ditched on Monday.
It came as Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick defended the end of legal restrictions amid a backlash from some businesses over new guidance that face masks should continue to be worn in “crowded, enclosed spaces” such as shops and encouraging table services using apps to still be used in pubs.
He told Sky News: “A one-size-fits-all approach backed by the force of the law is not sensible when we are moving into a period where in all likelihood we are going to be living with the virus for a long time. So we are asking the public to be cautious, to come to sensible judgments about the wearing of masks in close contact in indoor spaces and for businesses as well to consider whether they want to and need to apply those restrictions.”
He admitted the Government is “concerned” about the number of people off work after being “pinged” by the NHS Covid app and said a more “proportionate approach” is being considered, though reports suggests tweaks may be delayed.
Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said it would be “clearer for everybody” if ministers followed Wales, Scotland and public transport systems in London and other cities by continuing to make wearing masks mandatory. He said: “It will be difficult for people to know what is required of them.”
People arriving from England by train will be required to wear a face covering as they enter Wales. Warning of risks of importing Covid variants, he told BBC Breakfast: “I do regret that the Prime Minister has decided that people returning from amber list countries are not required to self-isolate.”
Calum Semple, professor of child health and outbreak medicine at Liverpool University, stressed it was a “no-brainer” for people to get the vaccine as he warned of growing evidence that hospitalised young adults are suffering kidney and liver injuries.
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The Standard poll also suggested many people remain cautious about radically changing their behaviour given ongoing risks from coronavirus.
Fifty-three per cent said they are “unlikely” to host or attend a party this summer, with just 38 per cent saying they are likely to, a figure which rose to half of 18 to 34-year-olds.
Just 14 per cent of Britons say they are likely to holiday abroad this summer, with 83 per cent saying “unlikely”.
Slightly more than a third of adults, 34 per cent, are confident the country will be back to normal by Christmas, with 64 per cent taking the opposite view. Keiran Pedley, of Ipsos MORI, said: “The public appear pretty confident about Britain’s ability to learn to live with the virus in the long run.”
Ipsos MORI interviewed a sample of 1,053 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted by phone: July 2-July 8. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.
