School-return survey results

Your views on plans for some schoolchildren to return to their classrooms from next week.

Forty-two per cent of Sussex residents who took our survey said they strongly disagree with the UK government’s plans to begin reopening schools next week.

That is according to our county-wide survey over the weekend which saw thousands take part to have their say on how lockdown is going.

Among the questions, people were asked to what extent they agree with the UK government’s intention for primary schools in England to reopen from Monday.

Out of 3,033 participants, 1,284 said they strongly disagreed with it. A further 658 people (21.69 per cent) said they just disagreed, while just 9.1 per cent of participants said they strongly agreed with the policy (276 people) and a further 12.07 per cent just agreed (366 people).

Eleven-point-nine per cent of people neither agreed nor disagreed and 2.9 per cent said they didn’t know.

In another question, residents were asked what they thought of the UK Government’s Stay Alert messaging.

Thirty four per cent said they personally felt the message was ‘not at all clear’, while 26.77 per cent said it was ‘not very clear’.

However, just over 20 per cent of survey participants said the messaging was ‘very clear’, and 17.51 per cent said it was ‘slightly clear’.

A further 0.53 per cent of people said they did not know. People were also asked how they felt Prime Minister Boris Johnson has handled the coronavirus crisis. More than 37 per cent (1,149 people) said Mr Johnson was doing ‘somewhat well’, while 25.55 per cent (775 people) said ‘not at all well’. Fifteen per cent said the PM was doing ‘very well’ (466 people) and 20.18 per cent said he is ‘not doing very well’ (775). Thirty one people (one per cent) said they did not know either way.

By contrast, 46.32 per cent of people said First Minister for Scotland Nicola Sturgeon is doing ‘somewhat well’ and 22.2 per cent said ‘very well’.

Below are the following notable results for the other questions asked.

How comfortable do you feel about: visiting family (somewhat comfortable – 34 per cent); returning to work (not at all comfortable – 23 per cent); sending children back to school (not at all comfortable – 34 per cent) and taking public transport (not at all comfortable – 62 per cent).

How comfortable do you feel about these leisure activities? Visiting popular public destinations such as beaches, parks, and beauty spots (not very comfortable – 26 per cent); going to pubs and bars with outdoor areas (not at all comfortable – 40 per cent); eating at cafés/restaurants (not at all comfortable – 47 per cent); taking flights to European holiday destinations (not at all comfortable – 64 per cent).

To what extent would you feel more confident in being out in public places, if the government were to introduce this? Readily available testing so people can find out if they are infected (much more confident – 39 per cent); NHS mobile phone app for tracking infections (would not make any difference – 31 per cent) mandatory wearing of face coverings in public (would not make any difference – 38 per cent)

How concerned are you about job security? Thirtytwo per cent were slightly concerned.

How closely are people sticking to social distancing rules where you live? Thirtyseven per cent said somewhat closely while 30 per cent said not very closely