Survey of public views on the coronavirus (COVID-19): 13 to 16 August 2021

Main findings

Perceptions of the threats posed by coronavirus are gradually falling. As the vaccination roll-out continues and restrictions start to be eased in Wales, the proportion who believe coronavirus poses a high level of threat to them personally and their country remain at low levels, with the threat posed to the country being at its lowest level yet recorded.

The proportion of people only leaving home for essential journeys has fallen this wave, whereas a majority in Wales continues to try to keep two metres away from others when out. The Welsh Government and the NHS are generally seen to be doing a good job, with just under three quarters of the Welsh public now saying the Welsh Government is doing a good job at containing the spread of the virus.

The Welsh public continue to think the coronavirus pandemic will have a personal financial impact on them. Around a quarter of people are concerned they will not be able to pay their bills one month from now.

Summary of methods

These are selected results from a regular survey tracking public views and behaviours on coronavirus. The study is conducted online by Ipsos MORI with adults in Wales aged 16 to 74. The Welsh Government has funded the survey on a regular basis since March 2020. It is broadly representative at population level, and the data is weighted to reflect the demographic profile of the adult population (in terms of gender and age) according to mid year population estimates. While online panels can have some limitations they do provide rapid turnaround of data in situations such as this.

Likely credibility intervals around the indicators will be in the region of +/- 4% to 5% for the Welsh boosted sample. Given the credibility intervals differences between waves should be interpreted with some caution.