Activities modified due to coronavirus fears in the UK 2020

Which of the following changes, if any, have you made as a result of coronavirus/COVID-19?

Characteristic	Share of responses
Washing my hands more frequently	57%
Read the news more often to keep up-to date	40%
Trying not to touch my face	31%
Avoided/reduced going to busy public places	29%
Not directly touching public surfaces	24%
I’m no longer considering booking trips to other countries	18%
Checked social media more often to keep up-to date	17%
Washing my towels more frequently	13%
Changed my daily routines to avoid crowds / rush hour	11%
Avoided/reduced eating out at restaurants	11%
Avoided/reduced travel to other destinations in my own country	10%
I’ve cancelled trips to other countries that I’ve already booked	7%
Working from home more often	5%
Changed the way I commute to work	4%
Started wearing a face mask	3%
Other	2%
I've not made any changes as a result of COVID-19	25%

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Release date

March 2020

More information

Region

United Kingdom

Survey time period

March 5 to March 12 2020

Number of respondents

2,229 respondents

Age group

16-64 years

Method of interview

Online survey

Citation formats

According to a survey carried out in March 2020, it was found that 57 percent of British people were washing their hands more frequently due to fear of getting infected with coronavirus (COVID-19), while a further 40 percent were reading the news more often to keep up-to date with the situation. However, 25 percent of British people have not made any changes in their daily routine activities to avoid their exposure to coronavirus.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.