Islands Split On Covid Response

Wednesday, 24 March 2021 07:45

90% of people surveyed in Guernsey think the government has taken the right approach to Covid-19 compared to just 47% in Jersey.

Of those, only 8% in Jersey strongly agreed with the statement 'the strategy my island is taking in response to Covid-19 is the right approach', whereas 60% of people in Guernsey gave the highest endorsement of the authorities' actions.

Global Island Research questioned 461 Guernsey residents, 391 Jersey residents and 412 people in the Isle of Man.

The survey was taken in the week of 15 March to mark a year since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Most people in all three islands said they had easily complied with the stay at home requirements (61% Guernsey, 53% Jersey and 58% IOM)

Almost three quarters if people in Guernsey said life on their island has been 'much better' compared to the UK over the past year. For Jersey, that figure was 36%.

Just 45% here thought the community had come together as a consequence of the crisis, compared to almost three quarters (73%) of respondents in Guernsey.

Overall, those surveyed believe poorer people (82%), younger people (41%) and women (19%) have been more negatively impacted.

Asked what they were most looking forward to being able to do, most respondents said 'travel to see family and friends'.

Hug, socialise, play and listen to live music, celebrate life events and 'not taking what we have for granted' were other common answers.

Some concerns were also expressed, including that 'things might get worse before they get better' and that 'the pandemic had highlighted issues around mental health in the community.'

See more of the survey results here