Coronavirus (COVID-19): highest risk - survey report - July 2021
Results from an online survey conducted by the Scottish Government Shielding Division in July 2021 with people at highest clinical risk from Covid-19.
Recent activities
In the months leading up to the survey, restrictions in Scotland changed significantly - lockdown measures were lifted and many previously restricted activities opened up. People at highest risk were asked to start to follow the same advice as for the general population at Levels 1 and 0. We wanted to understand if these changes had impacted those who had been identified as highest risk, and whether people felt reassured enough to begin to return to previous activities as restrictions eased.
Despite the easing of restrictions (including the whole of Scotland moving to Level 0 on 19 July 2021), there were still a number of day-to-day activities that respondents were choosing not to participate in, including:
- 14% never visited shops
- 24% never met people who were not part of their household or extended household outdoors
- 50% never met people who weren’t part of their household or extended household indoors
- 79% never been on public transport
Similarly, there were still 2% of respondents (n4494) who had chosen not to leave their home for any reason. While the proportion might be relatively small, this points to people who were potentially still very fearful of coronavirus and were taking measures over and above the advice to keep themselves safe.
We asked participants how often they had undertaken the following activities from May – July 2021:
Left home for any reason
| Never | 2% |
|---|---|
| Once or twice a month | 16% |
| Once a week | 14% |
| A couple of times a week | 34% |
| Daily | 33% |
| Not relevant to me | 0% |
| Response count | 4495 |
Visited shops
| Never | 14% |
|---|---|
| Once or twice a month | 28% |
| Once a week | 28% |
| A couple of times a week | 25% |
| Daily | 4% |
| Not relevant to me | 1% |
| Response count | 4471 |
Met people outdoors who are not part of your household or extended household
| Never | 24% |
|---|---|
| Once or twice a month | 40% |
| Once a week | 16% |
| A couple of times a week | 14% |
| Daily | 5% |
| Not relevant to me | 1% |
| Response count | 4471 |
Met people indoors who are not part of your household or extended household
| Never | 50% |
|---|---|
| Once or twice a month | 32% |
| Once a week | 9% |
| A couple of times a week | 5% |
| Daily | 3% |
| Not relevant to me | 1% |
| Response count | 4469 |
Been on public transport
| Never | 79% |
|---|---|
| Once or twice a month | 13% |
| Once a week | 3% |
| A couple of times a week | 3% |
| Daily | 1% |
| Not relevant to me | 3% |
| Response count | 4469 |
Gone to school, childcare or college
Note that based on final demographic data only 1% of participants identified as being ‘in education’. We suspect that the majority of those who answered ‘Never’ should largely be in the ‘Not relevant to me’ column.
| Never | 51% |
|---|---|
| Once or twice a month | 0% |
| Once a week | 0% |
| A couple of times a week | 1% |
| Daily | 1% |
| Not relevant to me | 46% |
| Response count | 4442 |
Gone to work if they cannot work from home
| Never | 36% |
|---|---|
| Once or twice a month | 2% |
| Once a week | 1% |
| A couple of times a week | 5% |
| Daily | 13% |
| Not relevant to me | 43% |
| Response count | 4457 |
Contact
Email: shielding@gov.scot
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