Under 50% of islanders in survey agreed with covid strategy

Sunday 28 March 2021

Less than half of the Jersey residents that took part in a recent survey said that they agreed with the Government's covid strategy.

The survey from Island Global Research showed that only 47% of the Jersey residents quizzed agreed with their island strategy in contrast to the 90% in Guernsey and 73% in the Isle of Man.

Pictured: Less than 1 in 5 participants on this island saw covid as a 'very high threat' by March 2022.

The results for this ‘Impact of Covid - One Year On’ survey came from 1,264 residents asked across the Crown Dependencies, including 391 in Jersey, 461 in Guernsey and 412 in the Isle of Man.

However, it should be emphasised that the survey is not intended to represent the total population of each island, but to understand views one year on from covid.

Despite just under half of Jersey supporting the plan though, restrictions still seemed to be accepted, with 53% of islanders saying they found it ‘very easy’ to comply with them, and only 18% saying it was ‘very difficult'.

It follows a survey by Jersey's own Government which saw one in ten respondents admit that they weren't complying with all covid rules.

Pictured: Of the three islands, Jersey had the lowest number of people who believed the community had come together as a consequence of the pandemic (45%).

Other key topics included how the participants saw the threat of covid - 85% of Jersey respondents saw it as a ‘high/very high threat' in March 2020.

However, by March 2021, that number sunk to 26%. Only 15% thought it would still be a major threat by March 2022.

Guernsey saw a similar trajectory, with 81% in 2020 falling to 26% in 2021, and 17% by 2022.

The Isle of Man remained more cautious - in March 2021, 70% of islanders still considered covid a key threat, compared to 79% the same time the year before.

Community spirit was also analysed. While nearly three quarters (73%) of Guernsey respondents and 62% of the Isle of Man's thought their community had come together as a result of the pandemic, only 45% of Jersey's participants agreed with this statement.

Pictured: Respondents varied in who they thought the pandemic had impacted most.

All islanders agreed on the negative impact the pandemic had on their lives, with 74% of Jersey, 80% of the Isle of Man, and 72% of Guernsey all saying their life had been impacted more negatively than positively by restrictions.

However, in terms of comparative quality of living, around a third (36%) of Jersey’s participants felt that their life was ‘much better’ compared to the UK, contrasting with a more optimistic 73% in Guernsey and 50% in the Isle of Man.

Looking ahead to the future, one of the biggest themes to emerge from respondents' hopes for upcoming 12 months was the opportunity to travel again, and see family living off-island.