This is what Sussex readers think about easing the lockdown

Our lockdown survey, published across 150 titles across the UK last week, including in Sussex, has had a great response.

It gives an insight into how the coronavirus crisis has impacted people in Sussex and what they would like to see happen in the coming weeks and months.

In total we asked readers 25 questions on their attitude towards the lockdown.

Of these questions five focused on how lockdown restrictions might be eased - and today we can reveal how people in Sussex answered.

The majority of Sussex readers who completed our survey said they felt ‘slightly concerned’ about going to public places such as shops, bars, restaurants and cinemas once lockdown is eased (44%).

By comparison, on a national level, 41% answered ‘slightly concerned’, 37% answered ‘very concerned’, 12% answered ‘not very concerned’ and 10% answered ‘not at all concerned’.

Of those who took part in the survey, a majority of Sussex readers said visits to family and friends should be given the highest level of priority when restrictions are eased.

Going outside more often should be the second highest priority, followed by permitting more mourners at funerals.

We also asked people which of the following - garden centres, DIY stores, fast food restaurants, takeaway coffee chains and electrical stores - they would be most keen to visit if they were reopened in the near future, with social distancing measures in place.

Most respondents said they were keen to visit garden centres, with 57% receiving the smallest number of votes.

When asked how well they thought the UK Government had handled the coronavirus crisis, 13% of Sussex readers said ‘very well’, 42% said ‘quite well’, 20% said ‘not very well’, while 23% stated ‘not well at all’.

The national average, by comparison, was 12% for ‘very well’, 34% for ‘quite well’, 24% for ‘not very well’ and 28% for ‘not at all well’.

When asked how clear the UK Government’s lockdown guidance had been so far, an equal number of Sussex readers who took part in the survey responded ‘very clear’ or ‘quite clear’ (34%).

The national average on this issue was: 30% said ‘very clear’, 35% said ‘quite clear’, 22% said ‘not very clear’ and 14% said ‘not at all clear’.

During the course of this week we will be publishing more results of what local people had to say in our lockdown survey.

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.