The lockdown restriction Irish people most want lifted is the 2km movement limit, a new study has shown.
Many also want to see the end of the restriction on small gatherings as the Government is set to review lockdown measures on May 5.
The findings are from phase two of the Corona Citizens’ Science Study, a population-wide survey conducted by research teams at NUI Galway and Dublin City University looking at the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the associated restrictive measures on daily life in Ireland.
Half of the 35,000 respondents ranked the two kilometre limit on movement as their first choice to see removed while 37% wanted to see the limits on small gatherings lifted.
Respondents ranked a return to work and school, in third and fourth respectively with the reopening of shops, pubs and restaurants as the fifth preference.
And 10,830 people reported postponing medical treatment or check-ups with half of the group saying this was because the healthcare professional was not seeing any patients at the moment and 39% didn’t want to create extra pressure in the health system.
Professor Anthony Staines, Professor of Health Systems, DCU and joint research lead said: “These results show some of the real impacts of Covid-19 on our health and on our health services.
“Important treatment is being delayed, and there will need to be a clear path to fixing this before queues in our healthcare system become intolerable.
“We also see people beginning to think about life after lock-down, and making realistic suggestions for gradual easing of the restrictions.
“Irish people have made huge sacrifices to bring this disease under some control, which we needed to do before we could move on.”
