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Support for Government response plummets amid Covid spike - but public are blamed for second wave

Government approval hits new lows amid Covid-19 spike - but public are blamed for second wave
Government approval hits new lows amid Covid-19 spike - but public are blamed for second wave

As new national measures to combat the rise in Covid-19 in the UK are unveiled, Britons are increasingly fearful of catching the virus and critical of the Government's handling of the crisis, polling reveals.

And as a second wave of infections looms, almost half the public blame each other for the rising cases, driven by older generations.

On Tuesday Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new nation-wide restrictions including encouraging working from home, a 10pm closing time for pubs and restaurants, and an extension of scenarios where face masks are mandatory.

It follows a concerning spike in infections across the UK, and after the country's leading scientists warned an exponential rise in cases - doubling every seven days - would lead to 50,000 new cases a day by mid October.

Mr Johnson told the House of Commons: "Yesterday the UK's Covid alert level was raised from three to four, meaning that transmission is high or rising exponentially. So this is the moment when we must act.

"If we can curb the number of daily infections and reduce the reproduction rate to one we can save lives, protect the NHS and the most vulnerable and shelter the economy from the far sterner measures that would inevitably come."

Approval ratings plummet

Amid chaos in the UK testing system, with queues piling up at testing centres and people being turned away from the national booking system, fewer people than ever are supportive of the Government's handling of the pandemic, according to polling from YouGov.

That is despite most Brits supporting today's new measures, with 78 per cent of respondents to a snap YouGov poll released this evening saying they back the plans to close pubs and restaurants at 10pm, impose fresh limits on weddings and indoor sports and advise office workers to work from home if they can.

Nonetheless the percentage of those who say the Government is handling the virus 'very or 'somewhat' well has fallen to just 30 per cent - lower than any other country included in the polling.

It has been a significant fall in support from late March, when 72 per cent of respondents were supportive - higher than Sweden, the USA, Italy, France or Spain.

After a fall of 42 percentage points, support for the Government is now lower than in any of these countries.

Public blamed for second wave

With new confirmed cases rising above 4,000 a day the Government has warned we are now entering a second wave of Covid-19 infections.

Defeating the virus has often been described as a 'national effort', but who is most responsible for the rise in new cases? Lack of leadership and clear governance - or individuals flouting the rules?

Various ministers have now said the testing regime has buckled as people are coming forward for tests despite being asymptomatic, while suggesting they could not have forseen a surge in demand as schools reopen.

Others have encouraged a culture of 'snitching' to catch those who refuse to obey quarantine rules.

But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said there is "nothing inevitable" about a second national lockdown, and that is would be a "huge failure of Government, not an Act of God.

According to the latest polling from YouGov, almost half (49 per cent) of the public blames each other for the surge in cases.

It is a generational divide, with more than two thirds of over 65s (69 per cent) blaming the public at large.

Among younger age groups, a plurality blames the Government's handling of the virus - 46 per cent of 18 to 24s put responsibility at the door of the Government.

Mounting concern

Stark warnings from Government ministers and scientific advisers alike seem to have hit home with the public.

For the first time since the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic hit the UK, a majority of Brits are 'very' or 'somewhat' scared they could contract Covid-19

As of September 16, 51 per cent of the British public now fear catching coronavirus, up from 47 per cent and 41 per cent in the two weeks prior, according to YouGov.

This stands in contrast to Sweden - a country now notorious for its looser approach to lockdown - where fears around Covid-19 have been declining in recent weeks.

Around of 39 per cent of Swedes fear they will catch the virus, and this share has been in decline since June.

The rise in fear of Covid-19 in the UK may explain recent boosts to the support of some lockdown measures, including the overwhelming support of those announced today.

Indeed just under half of respondents to tonight's snap YouGov poll say the restrictions do not go far enough.

 

Which lockdown measures do the British public support?
Which lockdown measures do the British public support?

However, not all restrictions enjoy widespread support - temporary closure of schools and the cancellation of routine hospital procedures, for instance, are supported by only a small minority of the British public.

Mr Johnson said on Tuesday: "After six months of restrictions it would be tempting to seek comfort in the hope that the virus has faded," he says. "It is that kind of complacency that could be our undoing.

"If we fail to act together now, we will not only place others at risk, but jeopardise our own futures with the more drastic action that we will inevitably be forced to take."