Stay-at-home plea ‘too successful’ as we fear going out
Sam Lister
THE stay-at-home message pushed by the Government may have worked too well, ministers have been told.
The warning came as a new poll reveals most of the public are likely to feel too nervous to resume normal activities when lockdown is eased.
Six in 10 Britons said they would be uncomfortable using public transport or going to a pub or restaurant.
And that rose to two thirds of people for mass events, such as sporting fixtures or concerts, the Ipsos Mori study found.
Half the working public are comfortable going back to work but 35 per cent are reluctant to, polling found.
And 48 per cent of parents are resistant to sending their children back to school, according to the research.
Keiran Pedley, research director at Ipsos MORI, said most of the public did not fear meeting up with friends and family but were nervous about other social interaction.
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, of Cambridge University, said the stay at home message may have worked too well. “Maybe our whole campaign has been, if anything, slightly too successful,” he said.
Downing Street said clear new slogans would be developed for each change made to the restrictions.
Prof Spiegelhalter’s intervention came after Boris Johnson on Thursday pledged to reveal a “road map” next week on how the country will leave the coronavirus lockdown and get back to work.
He declared Britain was “past the peak” of its Covid-19 outbreak.
But the prime minister said he would not risk lifting restrictions too soon and exposing the country to a “second spike” of infections.
There was, he said, a “menu of options” dependent on the spread of the disease.
Construction bosses have already been told the industry can largely restart because most of the work is in the open.
Barratt Developments became the latest UK housebuilder to set out plans to restart building on its construction sites, with 180 sites opening up.
Rivals Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry Group are all resuming work.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “I think we are, at the moment, where the country can take a message that is slightly nuanced and saying ‘this is what you need to do today, but this is what the future looks like so that you and your family can start to prepare’.”
Keiran Pedley added: “There is clear unease at other consequences of the lockdown ending.
“In particular, clear majorities of Britons are nervous about using public transport again or going to bars, restaurants or live music and sporting events.
“These numbers suggest that it will take some time for parts of the British economy to return to any semblance of normality, even after lockdown has ended.”