Vast majority of Brits back coronavirus lockdown - despite believing it will take years for economy to recover
The lockdown in the UK has been in place for three weeks.
2 min read
An overwhelming majority of British people back the coronavirus lockdown, even though they believe it will take years for the economy to recover.
A YouGov poll for the Telegraph found that 82% of UK voters back the current level of restrictions or think they should be even stricter.
That is despite roughly the same proportion - 84% - thinking the economy will be harmed for at least a few years by its impact.
The findings will be welcomed by the Government, which is set to extend the lockdown for at least another three weeks.
Just over 2,000 were adults were asked on Easter Sunday what they thought of the current level of restrictions, which were imposed three weeks ago and ban people from leaving the house except in a limited number of circumstances.
A total of 48% thought they were "about right", with a further 44% believing they were not strict enough.
Only 6% of people thought they were too severe.
Meanwhile, 45% of those surveyed believe the economy will be "weakened for a few years", with another 39% thinking the damage will last "many years".
The poll also found high levels of compliance with the lockdown, with 26% of people saying they were not going out at all, and 69% "going out much less but still a little".
Only 4% said they had "slightly reduced" their time outside the house.
Meanwhile, nearly one in four people - 23% - say they fear for their future as a result of the pandemic, with 63% believing they will be OK.
The findings emerged as the official death toll in the UK passed 11,000.
Dominic Raab, who is standing in for Boris Johnson as he recovers from coronavirus, said the Government is set to announce on Thursday that the outbreak will last until next month at the earliest.
He said: "I should say we don’t expect to make any changes to the measures currently at place at that point and we won't until we’re confident - as confident as we realistically can be - that any such changes can be safely made."
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
