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Half of people in the UK left the house yesterday

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Julian Dailly EVP 26 March 2020

Coronavirus daily tracker: 26th March 2020

Government advice sinks in further as fewer and fewer people report leaving their homes

Two in five (39%) UK adults say that their disposable income has dropped due to COVID-19.

Half (51%) of people reported that they left the house yesterday, the lowest total yet, and the lowest midweek figure by 8 points (yesterday’s figure was 58%).

Two in five (41%) are now saying that that they’re officially self-isolating, also up 5 points from yesterday.

General activity from those who left the house continues to drop, with a quarter (27%) visiting a supermarket (down from 49% this time last week), and one in ten (9%) saying that they visited friends or family (down from 25% this time last week).

One in ten (10%) of those who visited a supermarket said that they did not see any empty shelves, an 8 point rise since Saturday’s data indicating that panic buying, and stockpiling is reducing somewhat.

Working from home continues to rise

The prevalence of video calling continues has increased, up 4 points in a day from 32% to 36%. Approaching half (45%) are now saying they’re working from home when they would not ordinarily, the highest figure yet.

While around a quarter (26%) say that their place of work requires them to attend their regular place of employment, this is the lowest figure yet.

Levels of anxiety about health and finances fluctuate

More than half (55%) of people still report that they are at least very worried about COVID-19, although the proportion that say they are ‘the most worried ever’ has dropped a few points since Boris Johnson’s address to the nation on Monday (peaked at 22% before, now at 18%).

The number of people who say that their disposable income has decreased has risen, now with two in five (39%) UK adults saying that their disposable income has dropped due to COVID-19.

Government trust up again

Government approval ratings continue to rise up to 53% today from 23% this time last week. People are now taking warnings seriously with more than four in five (83%) saying that they at least mostly follow the government’s advice, up 4 points from yesterday.

The number saying that they’re entirely following the government’s advice is also up, with two in five (41%) now saying this, up 5 points from yesterday.

Individually, Matt Hancock’s approval rating took an expected bump, with half (49%) approving of how he’s handling the outbreak. The Prime Minister and Chancellor’s approval ratings are still in the 40s. With Rishi Sunak expected to make a speech about financial help for the self-employed later today we shall see if these scores rise over the coming days.

We will be updating our coronavirus tracker daily and weekly as this unprecedented pandemic unfolds. The full data set can be downloaded here. Please get in touch for more information.