Half of Britons think Boris Johnson should delay this month's planned lifting of lockdown, according to an exclusive Mirror poll.
Fifty per cent believed the Prime Minister should postpone triggering Step Four of the Government's “roadmap”, due for June 21.
But 38% thought he should go ahead and order the next stage of relaxations.
The Conservative leader is due to announce on June 14 whether he will press on with plans to scrap all remaining Covid-19 legal restrictions a week later.
The long-awaited move would allow people to queue at the bar in pubs and invite an unlimited number of guests to weddings.
A separate review is underway on social-distancing and mask-wearing on public transport and as people move around pubs, restaurants and cafes.
But three in four of those quizzed for our study thought people should continue to wear face coverings, with just 22% against.
Even if the Government decides to lift the rule, businesses and venues could still insist on masks being worn as a condition of entry.
The Prime Minister this week signalled that while he could “see nothing in the data at the moment that means we can’t go ahead with Step Four”, crucial statistics showing how protected people are from coronavirus were still unclear.
After 15 months of various curbs on everyday life, the survey revealed looming apprehension about the day when all measures to prevent the spread of the virus are finally eased.
Some 56% of people were “quite anxious” or “very anxious” about life returning to normal, while 28% were “not that anxious” and 15% “not at all anxious”.
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The findings show how some of us have become used to degrees of “lockdown life” – including working from home, seeing fewer people and having more time to explore our neighbourhoods – and are far from desperate to return to our pre-March 2020 behaviour.
The poll results come as scientists continue to examine data for infection levels, hospital admissions and vaccinations.
Experts and advisers want to discover to what extent the link between rising infections automatically leading to increasing deaths has been broken.
The poll also revealed how a majority did not believe the Government's claim – rubbished by former No10 adviser Dominic Cummings last week – that it “threw a protective ring” around care homes at the start of the pandemic.
Fifty-six-per-cent said the boast was untrue while just 26% thought it was true.
Yet voters were evenly split on the damage inflicted on the PM by Mr Cummings' evidence to two parliamentary select committees, where he claimed Mr Johnson was not fit for office.
Some 44% said the Premier was damaged “very much” or “quite a lot” by the evidence, while another 44% said he was “not that much” or “not at all” damaged.
When it came to overseas travel, few Britons wanted to rush to the airport – even if they were allowed.
Three-quarters said they were not planning an overseas trip this year - 2021.
Just 18% said they were planning a foreign trip before 2022.
Survation polled 1,533 adults online on Tuesday and Wednesday.
