Change in attitude attributed to govt's scrapping of rules, weakening strains

Many Britons are no longer cautious about the novel coronavirus but seem to have taken the government's recent scrapping of all virus-related restrictions as a signal to return to their pre-pandemic lives, according to a new study.

Polling by YouGov and Imperial College London found United Kingdom residents are taking fewer precautions against catching the virus that causes COVID-19 than they have at any time during the pandemic, which began two years ago, despite the fact that infections and hospitalizations are skyrocketing.

Mike Tildesley, a member of the UK government's Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, said: "We have seen a lot of the restrictions go, but more importantly a change in people's attitudes."

He told the Financial Times newspaper many people think the risk is very low, which is helping to drive up infections.

"If you see the virus as less of an imminent threat, you're more likely to mix with others and, in the short-term at least, that gives (the) Omicron(variant of the virus) a second wind."

The researchers found Britons were very cautious late last year, when the Omicron variant first appeared in the UK, with most people shunning social gatherings, public transport, and their offices.

That increased vigilance followed several months of steadily decreasing caution, as the previous wave of the pandemic eased. But the renewed caution suddenly ended earlier this year, and plummeted to an all-time low by the second week of March, after the government scrapped all legal restrictions on gatherings and behavior.

The pollsters found that while 63 percent of Britons avoided crowds earlier in the pandemic, only 31 percent are doing so now.

Nick Davies, an epidemiological modeler at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said people have become less cautious both because of the government's scrapping of the rules and also because strains circulating now are less dangerous.

But, despite strains being less deadly, hospitals in England had a 31 percent increase in COVID-19 patients during the past two weeks, with 14,078 virus beds taken on Tuesday.

The BBC said the 516,289 COVID-19 cases recorded in the UK during the week ending Wednesday was the most since early February, and 49 percent up on the week before.

Cases are also rising quickly in the European mainland, with the Netherlands recording a 48 percent jump during the past week and Germany registering a record-high incidence rate of 1,585.4 infections for every 100,000 people.

The United States is among nations closely watching the situation in Europe, with Anthony Fauci, director of its National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, telling CNN: "Without a doubt, opening up society and having people mingle indoors is clearly something that is a contributor, as well as overall waning immunity, which means we've really got to stay heads-up and keep our eye on the pattern here."