[ad_1]
More people in this country now believe that the UK has fared worse than Italy, Spain and France in the Covid-19 crisis than to say it has done better than its European neighbors, according to the latest Opinium survey for the Observer.
The data shows that only the majority of people in the United Kingdom consider that the United States fared worse. Whereas two weeks ago more people thought that the United Kingdom had had better results than Italy and Spain, now the opposite occurs.
The findings come after a week in which the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that the UK had the highest total Covid-19 deaths of any European nation.
The ONS said 29,648 deaths had been recorded in England and Wales with Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate before May 2. With the addition of official death figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland, this brought the total to 32,313, the highest of any country in Europe.
While ministers have been interested in pointing out that international comparisons are difficult to make, it appears that the rise in the death toll in the UK above that of other nations has changed public opinion about the effectiveness of the UK response.
Two weeks ago, when Opinium asked people if the UK had responded better or worse than Italy, 30% said they had done better and 22% worse. When asked the same question between Tuesday and Thursday last week, 29% said the UK had fared worse and 25% better. There was a similar change relative to Spain, with 29% believing that the UK had handled things worse and 22% better in the last survey.
Opinium also found that more people had come to the opinion that the UK had done worse compared to South Korea, Japan and Australia than two weeks ago.
Overall, more people still approve of the way the UK has handled the crisis (48% approve versus 36% disapprove) although the net approval rate (the figure when the proportion of those disapproving is subtracted from the proportion that it approves) is at its lowest level point (plus 12) since Opinium began probing the coronavirus in March.
On specific aspects of the crisis, 60% disapprove of the way the government has handled the tests for Covid-19. This follows the government that announced that it had reached the 100,000 per day test 10 days ago only to fail to meet that goal again in a single day last week.
With some closing restrictions likely to ease from Monday, most people are still cautious about reopening public places. Fewer than one in 10 opinion schools (8%), offices (8%), and nonessential stores (9%) should reopen immediately. Similarly, the public seems uncomfortable with the idea of visiting public places or using public transportation even after restrictions are lifted. Three out of five (60%) say they would not feel comfortable eating in a restaurant, while more than half would feel uncomfortable using the subway (55%) or traveling by bus or train (59% and 56% respectively). Meanwhile, opinion is more divided upon returning to the offices; more than a third (36%) would feel uncomfortable when returning to work in an office, while 30% would feel comfortable.
