Report “Majority think UK government COVID-19 response worse than other developed countries, almost half say response too focused on protecting the economy”

Year of production: 2020

Image is illustrative. Photo by Grooveland Designs on Unsplash

The report examines how people think about the coronavirus crisis and how different institutions in the UK have responded to it, based on a survey fielded from 2 July to 8 July 2020. Among its highlights:

  • a majority of the UK public say they think the UK government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been worse than most other developed countries
  • almost half feel that the government response is too focused on protecting the economy,
  • concern over possible misinformation from the government is polarised along political lines

The report is the seventh in a series of ten Factsheets included in the UK COVID-19 news and information project that analyses how the British public navigates information and misinformation about coronavirus and about how the government and other institutions are responding to the pandemic.

Authors

Reuters Institute

Photo of Antonis Kalogeropoulos
Antonis Kalogeropoulos

Antonis Kalogeropoulos is a Lecturer in Communication and Media at the University of Liverpool and a Research Associate of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

Photo of Richard Fletcher
Richard Fletcher

Richard Fletcher is a Senior Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and leads the Institute’s research team.

Photo of Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen

Rasmus Kleis Nielsen is the Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and Professor of Political Communication at the University of Oxford.

University of Oxford