More than 50% of ECHO readers disagree with the new lockdown restrictions as pubs and gyms across the city region close today.
A poll of 7,000 readers found 57% of them objected to the Liverpool City Region being placed into the Tier 3 restrictions that take effect from Wednesday.
The new restrictions come in response to a dramatic rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the region, which have more than doubled over the past two weeks.
Last week, more than 8,000 people across the city region tested positive for coronavirus, while Liverpool and Knowsley have some of the highest infection rates in the country.
But the ECHO's poll showed widespread opposition to the new restrictions, which include a ban on household mixing and the enforced closure of pubs, gyms and betting shops.
The rules have provoked criticism from people who fear the city region’s hospitality sector will not be able to recover from another period of closure, while others have demanded to see the evidence that shows the new measures will bring the virus back under control.
On top of these doubts, the poll showed significant pessimism about how long the restrictions would last.
While the government intends to review the new rules in four weeks’ time, only 20% of ECHO readers thought the restrictions would be lifted after a month.
Another 18% thought the restrictions would last two months, but the majority of readers - 63% - expected them to carry on past Christmas.
Initial reports suggested the new restrictions could last for “up to six months”, depending on how effective they are in curbing the spread of the virus.
The poll also revealed a widespread sense that the government did not care about what happened on Merseyside.
Just 12% of readers thought Boris Johnson’s government cared about the Liverpool City Region.
A huge majority - 64% - answered “no” when asked whether the government cared about the city region, while another 14% answered “not as much as they should” and 11% answered “to some extent”.
