Public attitudes to Coronavirus: November update

2. Compliance 

Views on guidance

As well as tracking the impacts of Coronavirus on people’s finances and health, polling surveys have been used to monitor people’s attitudes to the Coronavirus response. This section presents data about public awareness of, and reaction to, Coronavirus measures.

Respondents were provided with statements about government advice and guidance, and asked about the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with them. Figure 5 shows that around three quarters agreed that the best thing to do is to follow the government’s advice, which has remained stable during September and October. The vast majority agreed that they understand the need to have the rules we have about meeting up, although agreement decreased from early September to early October and then fluctuated around the lower level after that. There was an increase in the proportion who are finding it hard to always stick to the government rules between September and October.

Source: YouGov weekly Scotland survey. Base (n=1000-1053)

Views on recent restrictions

National restrictions were announced on Tuesday 22 September^[2] and additional temporary measures came into effect on Friday 9 October.^[3] Respondents were prompted with the details of these restrictions and asked to what extent they were aware of them before taking the survey, and had followed them since they were introduced. As shown in Figure 6, on prompting, the vast majority reported they were ‘fully aware’ or ‘aware of some details’, and had ‘mostly’ or ‘fully’ followed them.

Source: YouGov weekly Scotland survey. Base (n=1004-1023)

Levels of compliance

Respondents were asked to assess their compliance with the Coronavirus guidance on a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 is 'not at all' and 7 is 'completely'. At the beginning of September four fifths rated their compliance as complete or almost complete (i.e. scored themselves as 6 or 7 out of 7), while by the end of October this had decreased to three quarters. At the beginning of September around one fifth rated their compliance as less good with a score of between 1 and 5. Three fifths of respondents consistently agreed that the new restrictions have made them think more carefully about how they behave.

Source: YouGov weekly Scotland survey. Base (n=1000-1053)

Respondents were provided with a list of activities and asked, what, if anything, they had done in the past week. The lists included a range of activities, some of which were permitted in the guidance, and others that were outside of the guidance. Table 1 shows that, at the end of September claimed compliance with face coverings was high, with only 3% or less not wearing these when required. A slightly higher proportion reported hugging or kissing someone outside of their household (6%), not keeping a 1 metre distance (6%), and having shared a car with someone aged over 12 not in their household without windows open or face coverings on (5%), all of which were outside of the guidance.

Table 1: Proportion who reported having done each activity in the past week

Activity done in the past week	%
Met up with people and managed to stay at least 2 metres/ 6 feet away from anyone aged 12 or older not in my household	24%
Met up with people but didn't manage to stay even 1 metre away from others aged 12 or older not in my household	6%
Shared a car with someone aged 12 or older not in my household with windows open and/ or face coverings on	5%
Shared a car with someone aged 12 or older not in my household without windows open or face coverings on	5%
Met up with people from more than 4 other households in total (whether indoors and/ or outdoors) in a day	2%
Travelled on public transport with a face covering	16%
Travelled on public transport without a face covering	1%
Shopped in a supermarket/ other shop without a face covering	3%
Met up with up to 6 people aged 12 or older from one other household indoors - at home/in someone else's home	3%
Met up with up to 6 people aged 12 or older from one other household indoors - in a bar, pub, café or restaurant	6%
Met up with more than 6 people aged 12 or older and/ or more than one other household anywhere indoors (at home/ in someone else's home / in a bar, pub, café or restaurant)	1%
Met up with up to 6 people aged 12 or older from one other household outdoors (in a garden, other outdoor location or outside area of a bar, pub, café or restaurant)	7%
Met up with more than 6 people aged 12 or older and/ or more than one other household outdoors (in a garden, other outdoor location or outside area of a bar, pub, café or restaurant)	1%
Hugged/ kissed someone aged 12 or older not in my household when meeting up with them	6%
None of these	43%
Don't know	4%
Prefer not to say	2%

Source: YouGov weekly Scotland survey 29-30 September. Base (n=1004)

Personal protective actions

Respondents were asked how important various personal protective actions (FACTS behaviours) were in helping to keep the spread of Coronavirus under control, and then the extent to which they were following them.^[4] As shown in Figure 8, the vast majority consistently viewed each of these protective actions as important. 

Source: YouGov weekly Scotland survey. Base (n=1004-1053)

Respondents were asked how well, if at all, they are at following various personal protective actions (FACTS behaviours). Figure 9 shows that the vast majority reported following each action ‘well’ or ‘fairly well’. In particular, more than nine in ten reported good compliance with wearing a face covering when required, avoiding crowded places, and washing hands regularly for at least 20 seconds with soap and water.

Source: YouGov weekly Scotland survey. Base (n=1008-1040)

Testing

Test and Protect

Respondents were told what the main Coronavirus symptoms are, were provided with a list of response options, and asked which would best describe what they would do if they if they experienced any Coronavirus symptoms.^[5] As shown in Figure 10, at the end of October around three quarters said they would self-isolate and book a test straightaway if they had any symptoms, which was an increase from the end of September. Sizable minorities reported that they would take an alternative action not within the guidance, for example, self-isolate but wait a day or two before booking a test, although this decreased from the end of September to the end of October.

Source: YouGov weekly Scotland survey. Base (n=1004-1008)

Respondents were also asked whether they agreed or disagreed that they understand the importance of the Test & Protect in stopping the spread of Coronavirus, and with other statements about their willingness to comply with the programme. Figure 11 shows that the vast majority agreed that they understand the importance of Test & Protect programme for stopping the spread of the virus, would be willing to provide details of those they had been in contact with if they developed symptoms, and would be willing to comply with self-isolation guidance. Levels of willingness to provide details of other people, and to self-isolate and book a test through Test & Protect were slightly higher at the beginning of September than in the most recent wave. 

Source: YouGov weekly Scotland survey. Base (n=1000-1053)

Respondents were asked to think about whether they had self-isolated since March 2020, and select the reason, if any, for this. As shown in Figure 12, 13% to 14% of all respondents reported that they had self-isolated since March 2020, either because they had Coronavirus symptoms, someone else in their house had symptoms, had returned from overseas and were required to quarantine, or they had been alerted to self-isolate by the Test and Protect programme.

Source: YouGov weekly Scotland survey. Base (n=1004-1008)

Respondents who indicated that they had self-isolated were also asked about the number of many times, if at all, they left their home during their period of self-isolation.^[6] As shown in Figure 13, the majority reported that they had not left their home at all during the isolation period (72%). However, around one quarter reported they had left home during this period, either for one last trip before the period began, once or twice, or more than twice.

Source: YouGov weekly Scotland survey. Base (n=186-196)