Survey of public views on the coronavirus (COVID-19): 21 to 24 May 2021

Main findings

Perceptions of the threats posed by coronavirus have fallen recently. 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 are at their lowest levels yet recorded.

The proportion of people only leaving home for essential journeys has fallen again, whilst a large 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 over two thirds 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 fifth 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 weekly survey tracking public views and behaviours on coronavirus. The study uses IPSOS Mori’s Global Advisor online platform to collect information from adults aged 16 to 74. The Welsh Government has funded a boost in the sample size for Wales since 19 to 21 March 2020, and the sample size after boosting is in the region of 500-600. 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 weeks should be interpreted with some caution.