'Over half of Brits thought life would be back to normal now' survey reveals... just as Government warns coronavirus restrictions could last another six months

More than half of Brits thought life would go back to normal within six months of lockdown, a new survey has revealed – right as the Government announced the UK faced a possible six more months of restrictions.

Some 52 per cent felt in March that coronavirus restrictions would be completely gone by late September, a survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found.

Boris Johnson ordered Brits to stay at home on March 23, having pledged to "turn the tide within the next 12 weeks" a few days earlier.

But the Government put new restrictions in place this week, including imposing a 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants and telling people to work from home if possible, as case numbers spiked while testing and tracing lagged.

Restrictions could last for a further six months, Mr Johnson said, as the UK reached "a perilous turning point" in its battle with the virus.

Brits appear to have lost some optimism by the summer, as 37 per cent told the ONS that they thought the pandemic would last more than a year.

Anxiety increased during lockdown compared with pre-pandemic figures, the survey found.

One respondent in April said: “Am unable to do any of the things which normally fill my life and keep loneliness at bay, ie visiting friends, shopping, visiting places of interest, seeing children.”

But loneliness also increased when measures were eased over summer to allow for more socialising the ONS said.

About 20 per cent of adults said they felt lonely in mid-June, the survey found.

Others were afraid to leave their home, with one respondent saying they wore a face mask to put the bins out.

One respondent in June said: “I still don’t feel safe when I go outside, not everyone keeps their distance.”

Another added: “I felt nervous when going into an enclosed space such as the garden centre.

“I have lost a bit of self-confidence about being near other people in case they don’t respect social distancing.”

The data comes from the ONS' weekly Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.

The survey also found that between May 7 and June 7, that 87 per cent of parents said a child in their household had been homeschooled because of coronavirus.

But only half of adults said they felt confident in their abilities to homeschool their children, 43 per cent said homeschooling was negatively affecting their child’s well-being, and 36 per cent said homeschooling was putting a strain on their relationships.

The ONS found that at the end of May, 39 per cent of parents reported that their children were struggling to continue their education at home but this rose to 60 per cent by mid-June.

The most common reasons given were a lack of motivation and a lack of parents’ time to provide support, the ONS added.

But parents were also concerned about sending their children back to school, with 58 per cent saying they were either “very” or “somewhat worried” about children going back for the autumn term.

The survey also found that at the end of July, 82 per cent of adults said they “strongly support” or “tend to support” the mandatory wearing of face coverings and by late August 57 per cent had travelled to work “at least sometimes” compared to 36 per cent in late May.

With additional reporting by PA

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