The vast majority of British people are heeding the Government’s call to stay at home to beat coronavirus.
Nine in ten people have left their house no more than once a day, according to a major attitudes-monitoring project led by Imperial College London.
The global study suggested the UK was better than almost every other country at adhering to the tough measures. Almost two-thirds – 62 per cent – of Britons said they had not been within six feet of anyone outside their household in the last week in an incredible feat of social distancing.
Across all 13 nations included in the study, only 46 per cent of people could say the same.
Only Spain and Italy – both of which are under very strict lockdown – performed better, with 65 per cent and 67 per cent of people seeing nobody in the last seven days.
Equally, UK residents are washing their hands an average of 12 times a day – a key measure to stop the virus spreading – with 96 per cent doing so more than before the outbreak.
The vast majority of British people are heeding the Government’s call to stay at home to beat coronavirus (pictured, a woman walking through Square Mile in London)
Nine in ten people have left their house no more than once a day, according to a major attitudes-monitoring project led by Imperial College London
Health experts said the UK’s response has been far better than they had ‘dared hope’.
Oxford University analysis suggests death rates may have started to plateau. But doctors stressed it is vital that people keep following the measures to ensure progress is not undone.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night pleaded with the public to keep to the rules over the Easter weekend.
‘However warm the weather, however tempting your local beach or park, we need everyone to stay at home,’ he said.
‘Because in hospitals across the country, they are battling day and night to keep desperately sick people breathing. And they need you to stay at home.’
Professor Lord Ara Darzi, a surgeon and director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, which is running the monitoring project with polling firm YouGov, said the results were ‘encouraging’.
The UK recorded 980 coronavirus-related deaths yesterday, bringing total to 8,958
An overhead road sign on the M1 northbound advises people not to travel this Easter weekend
But he stressed it was ‘not the time for complacency’ and added: ‘Staying home, wherever possible, will save many lives.’
The researchers asked 14,649 people from 13 countries about their social distancing actions over the last week.
Respondents included adults from the UK, along with people in Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Sweden, the US, Australia, Canada, China, India, Mexico and Singapore.
The data also shows 88 per cent of Britons had left their house no more than once the previous day – compared with 80 per cent on average across the other countries.
Volunteers from Islington Covid-19 Mutual Aid group preparing food parcels for distribution to members of their community who are in self-isolation and experiencing financial difficulties
Canal boats moored in Skipton, Yorkshire during the coronavirus lockdown
The Government’s distancing strategy requires social contact to be cut by 75 per cent. Some 92 per cent of Brits have avoided taking public transport, 96 per cent are avoiding crowded areas and 72 per cent are avoiding shops.
Professor Paul Cosford, emeritus medical director at Public Health England, said yesterday: ‘Once you start getting things under control that’s the time you absolutely need to continue with all your measures so that you can bring the disease right down and crack it.’
Government adviser Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that early signs suggest ‘larger reductions in normal behaviour… than we would have dared hope’.
The behavioural study data, provided exclusively to the Mail, will be published online on Tuesday. It will expand to 30,000 people in 29 countries by week two.
A man feeds the pigeons and ducks in Regents Park during the coronavirus lockdown