More than a third will struggle to abide by Covid restrictions if no vaccine in next year - poll

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More than a third of people say they will struggle to abide by Covid-19 restrictions if there is no sign of a vaccine in the next year.

A poll by ORB International found that 35 per cent of people would find it difficult to follow social distancing rules if no vaccine becomes available for 12 months - with the figure rising to 44 per cent among 18-24 year olds and 47 per cent among those aged between 25 and 34.

Ministers have said that an effective vaccine is the best hope to combat coronavirus, with several candidates currently undergoing clinical trials. But the poll suggests that public adherence to government restrictions could slip further if a vaccine fails to appear in the coming months.

The survey of 2,082 adults also found that 38 per cent of people report that they or members of their household are having problems coping mentally with the current restrictions - with the figure rising to 53 per cent among 18-24 year olds.

In April, 33 per cent of people said they or someone they lived with was struggling mentally with the lockdown.

The national restrictions have since been replaced with a system of regional rules based on placing each area into one of three tiers.

Overall, only 70 per cent of respondents said that people in their area were respecting the rules designed to curb the spread of Covid-19, compared to almost 90 per cent in the early stages of the nationwide lockdown in April.

Only 24 per cent of people believe the Government should relax social distancing and lockdown rules at Christmas, compared to 62 per cent who disagreed.

Some 53 per cent indicated that they would not struggle to continue following the Covd-19 rules even if a vaccine failed to appear over the next 12 months.

Overall, only 10 per cent of respondents said they believed that the spread of the virus in the UK was now under control - rising to 17 per cent among 18-24 year olds and almost one in five (19 per cent) of those aged between 25 and 34.

Some 38 per cent said they or a member of their household had experienced a decrease in income since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak in the UK. Half of 18-24 year olds said they or someone they lived with had experienced a fall in income.

Do you see yourself struggling to abide by coronavirus restrictions this winter? Let us know in the comments section below.