Looking up – Are we starting to feel more positive about the future?

While we’re still witnessing the terrible effects of Coronavirus here and around the world, our COVID-19 Impact Tracker is revealing the nation’s opinions are leaning tentatively towards the positive this week.

Maybe a few days of sunshine is helping to lift our mood, the prospect of a less restrictive lockdown in the next few weeks, or perhaps it’s the return of our Prime Minister to No.10 after his illness. Whatever our reasons, the #StayAtHomeNation seems to be finding confidence that we’ll pull through this crisis, even if it’s unlikely to be any time soon.

At Delineate, we have a solid understanding of how the nation reacted as the restrictions took hold. Our platform allows us to understand consumer opinion in real-time, and with our COVID-19 Impact Tracker we’re following the #StayAtHomeNation as we move through this crisis.

To help brands and especially marketers and communicators, with the changes and challenges they’re facing, we recently published a free white paper “#StayAtHomeNation: Understanding the impact of COVID-19”. If you missed it, you can download it here

Difference of views at home and abroad

Unsurprisingly, our outlook regarding the containment timescale changes as we learn more about our journey to recovery, either thought government briefings or new and the media.

Though April we have seen the outlook improve for the people of the UK, at the end of March, most people thought the virus would be brought under control in the next 6 months (34%), but  this gap has closed over the month, now at 23%, and now ranks below containment in the UK in the next 3 months (29%)

The people of the UK view of global containment is more erratic. While short term recovery (in the next month, and next three months) is relatively consistent, opinion shifts dramatically among the longer-term outcomes.  At the end of March, 26% of people in the UK believed coronavirus would be brought under global control within 6 months. This rose to 35% at the end of April , but has now fallen to 20%.

Conversely, one in four (24%) of people in the UK thought global containment would take more than 12 months.  As we entered the first half of April, this decreased steadily to, but has bounced back higher now at 28%. Most likely driven by the news from hard hit areas around the world, like the US.

Home is where the heart is

Back at home, we’ve settled into our new routines and we’re feeling happier.  The majority of the nation remains optimistic for their personal wellbeing a year from now (it’s been around 53% throughout lockdown), but this week the figure increased to 65%.

People also forecast positive feelings for their wellbeing in the coming four-week period. We’ve seen a steady increase from 19% at the end of March to 24% in mid-April, and this week more people than ever (36%) say they’re optimistic about their immediate prospects.

As more of us relax into our lockdown situation, we’re becoming less anxious. We’re pleased to report more than half (59%) of people now say they had no feelings of anxiety the previous day, compared to just 44% at the start of lockdown. However, mental health is still a major issue – one in four of us (24%) face daily issues with anxiety, almost no change from the previous week.

Keeping up appearances?

So, it looks like we’re taking a more measured view about how long it’ll take until we’re on our feet again, but we’re more optimistic about surviving the upheaval. In general, we’re staying healthy, our anxieties are on the wane, and we currently feel we’re managing in lockdown.

Of course, this isn’t the same for everyone. Many of us are still struggling with the effects of COVID-19 and the impact of lockdown on our own welfare. Will we continue to see an upward swing in positivity as we move into May?

What happens next?

This is just a quick snapshot of changing opinions during lockdown taken from our COVID-19 Impact Tracker, which is part of our always-on data products. If you’re interested, have a look at our  COVID-19 page which is updated daily for more information.

To help marketers, communicators and brands understand the challenges they’re facing, we’ll continue to provide snapshots of changing opinions from our impact tracker, which is part of our always-on data products. If you’re interested, please see our COVID-19 page which is updated daily for more information.