Perceptions and behavioural responses of the general public during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey of UK Adults

Christina J Atchison; Leigh Bowman; Charlotte Vrinten; Rozlyn Redd; Philippa Pristera; Jeffrey W Eaton; Helen Ward

On 31 December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organisation (WHO) of an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan City, which was later classified as a new disease: (1). Following identification of cases in countries outside China, on 30 January 2020, WHO declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" (1). In the UK, the first cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed at the end of January 2020, and community transmission was reported a few weeks later (2, 3) . Government measures to control the epidemic were first announced on 22 January 2020 and included travel advice, information for those returning from affected countries, testing of suspected cases, isolation and contact tracing. This was followed in early February by a public health information campaign advising people to adopt hygiene measures to protect themselves and others, including more frequent handwashing with soap and water, using hand sanitiser if soap and water are not available, and covering mouth and nose with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing (4) . Then, on 3 March 2020, the UK Government published its action plan setting out the UK-wide response to the novel coronavirus. The UK Government's response outlined measures in four key areas: containing the outbreak, delaying its spread, mitigating the impact and research to improve diagnostics and treatment (5) .