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Publication - Research and analysis

Public attitudes to coronavirus: November update

Published
30 November 2021
From
Chief Social Researcher
Directorate
Performance, Delivery and Resilience Directorate
Topic
Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland, Health and social care
ISBN
9781802016482

This report presents findings from polling work, conducted between March and August 2021, on public attitudes to the coronavirus pandemic in Scotland.

View supporting documents Supporting documents

5. Behaviour and Attitudes as Restrictions Change

Respondents were asked about their behaviour and intentions to resume previous behaviours as restrictions were easing. Respondents have remained consistently cautious about resuming activities. From April through to August, around 7 in 10 respondents either ‘strongly agree’, or ‘tend to agree’, with the statement “Even though the restrictions are changing, I don’t want to rush into doing things’. At 24-25 August, 67% of respondents agreed that they did not want to rush into doing things.

Figure 27: Proportion who agree or disagree with the statement ‘Even though restrictions are changing, I don’t want to rush into doing things’
Bar chart showing the majority continuing to agree, from 70% on 20-21 April to 67% on 24-25 August.

Source: YouGov Scotland survey. Base: Adults (n=980-1063)

As shown in Figure 28, on 23-24 March, 39% of respondents said they either ‘tend to’ or ‘strongly’ agree with the statement ‘Thinking about resuming activities as restrictions ease makes me feel anxious’. From April to August, over 4 in 10 respondents have consistently agreed this makes them feel anxious (40% to 45%).

Figure 28: Proportion who agree or disagree with the statement ‘Thinking about resuming more activities as restrictions ease makes me feel anxious’
Bar chart showing that from 23-24 March to 10-11 August around 4 in 10 continue to agree this makes them feel anxious.

Source: YouGov Scotland survey. Base: Adults (n=807-1015)

Following the lifting of a number of restrictions in mid-April, respondents were asked which places they had visited in the past week. At 27-28 April, just over 1 in 10 (12%) respondents reported visiting a café/bar/restaurant, and just under 2 in 10 (19%) a non-grocery shop/shopping centre. By the following week, over a third (37%) of respondents had visited a café/bar/restaurant and 34% a non-grocery shop/shopping centre. Between June and August, just over 4 in 10 (42% to 47%) had visited a café/bar/restaurant in the previous week. During the same period, 33% to 39% of respondents reported visiting a non-grocery shop or shopping centre. There has been an increase in proportions of respondents visiting indoor leisure, from 8% in early May up to 15% by 24-25 August.

Figure 29: Proportion who had attended the following places in the past week
Bar chart showing from 27-28 April to 24-25 August there was an increase from 12% to 46% in those attending a café/bar/restaurant, from 19% to 33% in non-grocery shops, and from 6% to 15% in indoor leisure (6% to 15%).

Source: YouGov Scotland survey. Base: Adults (n=980-1063)

As shown in Figure 30, at the end of August, just under 7 in 10 (69%) respondents agreed with the statement ‘Even though restrictions have eased, I have not yet gone back to doing everything I did before the pandemic’.

Figure 30: Proportion who agreed or disagreed with the statement ‘even though restrictions have eased, I have not yet gone back to doing everything I did before the pandemic’
Bar chart showing 68% agreement on 24-25 August.

Source: YouGov Scotland survey. Base: Adults (n=1007)

Contact

Email: covid-19.behaviours@gov.scot

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