Follow the rules to avoid further tiers

PEOPLE in Yorkshire don’t necessarily think the tier system is right – but they think following the rules is key to avoiding harsher restrictions, or lowering them.

According to our latest survey, 46 per cent of people who responded to the Examiner poll think where they live is in the right tier as lockdown was lifted yesterday.

Of those who responded, 44pc said they weren’t in the right tier and 11pc weren’t sure.

Based on the survey, which received 1,437 responses, 50pc think different parts of Yorkshire should be in different tiers, while 47pc think putting towns and cities into different areas would be confusing.

People in Yorkshire generally wouldn’t have preferred to have stayed in a national lockdown – 49pc said we shouldn’t have, compared to 43pc who said we should have. When it comes to the restrictions imposed by the tier system, just 24pc think they’re just right.

Of those who think they need adjusting, 38pc said they are too tough and 38pc said they’re not tough enough.

Asked what was most important going forward to ensure areas either stay in their tier or go lower, 65pc said people needed to follow the rules. They also thought it was important that people wore masks as they’re supposed to (62pc), kept social distancing (63pc), and self-isolated where appropriate (58pc).

Other things that people thought might be helpful to stay in or drop a tier level were people being tested regularly (45pc), hospitalisations continuing to fall (43pc), and regular updates on the local situation so people can behave appropriately (42pc).

The change to tiers has made 28pc of respondents change their Christmas plans, while 62pc haven’t, and 10pc haven’t settled on a plan yet.

Across Reach’s national and regional titles, just over half of those surveyed (54pc) thought where they live was in the right tier. But 39pc don’t think they’re in the right level of restrictions.

A similar proportion (52pc) think leaving national lockdown was the right thing to do, compared to 39pc who thought we should have stayed in.

Just under a quarter of people (23pc) think the restrictions where they live are just right. People were slightly more likely (39pc) to think they were too tough than not tough enough (37pc).

As tiers come into force, nearly a third (31pc) of people nationally said they have changed their Christmas plans as a result, although 57pc haven’t.

With 99pc of the population now in Tier 2 or 3, following the rules was cited most often (68pc) as the key to staying in their current tier or moving down to one with lighter restrictions.

Other things that people thought would help were social distancing (64pc), wearing a mask (63pc), and self-isolating when needed (60pc).