Three quarters of people in the North East think the area has been put in the wrong tier, and restrictions are too tough.
According to our latest survey, just 24% of people who responded on ChronicleLive think where they live is in the right tier as the national lockdown is lifted today.
Of those who responded, 72% said they weren’t in the right tier and 4% weren’t sure.
Based on the survey, which received 8,119 responses, 77% said they didn’t agree with the decision to put the North East in Tier 3 when Liverpool and London are in Tier 2.
People in the North East generally wouldn't have preferred to have stayed in a national lockdown - 59% said we shouldn’t have, compared to 33% who said we should have.
When it comes to the restrictions imposed by the tier system, just 19% think they’re just right.
Of those who think they need adjusting, 59% said they are too tough and 22% said they’re not tough enough.
Asked what was most important going forward to ensure areas get into a lower tier, 62% said people needed to follow the rules.
They also thought it was important that people wore masks as they’re supposed to (57%), kept social distancing (59%), and self-isolated where appropriate (55%).
Other things that people thought might be helpful to drop a tier level were people being tested regularly (43%), hospitalisations continuing to fall (42%), and regular updates on the local situation so people can behave appropriately (43%).
The change to tiers has made 23% of respondents change their Christmas plans, while 65% haven’t and 12% haven’t settled on a plan yet.
Across Reach’s national and regional titles, just over half of those surveyed (54%) thought where they live was in the right tier. But 39% don’t think they’re in the right level of restrictions.
A similar proportion (52%) think leaving national lockdown was the right thing to do, compared to 39% who thought we should have stayed in.
Just under a quarter of people (23%) think the coronavirus restrictions where they live are just right. People were slightly more likely (39%) to think they were too tough than not tough enough (37%).
As tiers come into force, nearly a third (31%) of people nationally said they have changed their Christmas plans as a result, although 57% haven’t.
With 99% of the population now in Tier 2 or 3, following the rules was cited most often (68%) as the key to staying in their current Tier or moving down to one with lighter restrictions.
Other things that people thought would help were social distancing (64%), wearing a mask (63%), and self-isolating when needed (60%).
