Even when the pandemic is over, a surprisingly high proportion of Brits wants fairly significant restrictions to continue
(Picture: PA)One in five British people support the concept of a 10pm curfew for everyone - regardless of whether coronavirus remains a threat.
This is one of the findings from a poll for the Economist which examined people’s responses to the removal of all coronavirus restrictions, as planned for 19 July. And while the majority of people showed cautious attitudes to face masks and social distancing while the pandemic is still spreading, a surprising number of people revealed they wanted some of these public health measures to remain intact forever - Covid or no Covid.
As well as 19 per cent wanting people to go home and tuck themselves up at 10pm, some 25 per cent said they wanted nightclubs and casinos to remain closed and 35 per cent agreed people should check-in to pubs and restaurants indefinitely.
NEW: @ipsosmori polling for The Economist shows some Brits support anti-covid restrictions *permanently*, regardless of covid risk. Inc:
— Matthew Holehouse (@mattholehouse) July 8, 2021
- 19% for nighttime curfews
- 26% for closing casinos and clubs
- 35% for travel quarantine
- 40% for maskshttps://t.co/bcYpSbCFNB pic.twitter.com/I7K3fEn2YC
40 per cent of people want masks to be donned forever - presumably because they stop the spread of other illnesses as well as coronavirus - and around a third want social distancing to stay the norm.
It often feels like a fever dream trying to remember all the twists and turns of what we could and could not do at various points of the pandemic last year but the 10pm curfew was a policy enacted in September 2020 until November when England went into its second national lockdown - fun times.
At the time it was mocked by some who - despite not being virologists - considered that coronavirus is not a virus that is only transmissible at night, but safe to say we all got better nights sleep during the period.
And now after a couple of months of enjoying the reopened pubs, it seems that 19 per cent of Brits are hungover and craving an early night by force in wishing the government to renew this restriction.
We can’t say we agree with them.
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