Nearly two thirds of people in Wales worry ‘a lot’ about losing someone they love to coronavirus

It’s nearly six weeks since Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced unprecedented lockdown measures in the UK in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19.

To gauge how the coronavirus crisis is impacting on the physical, mental and social wellbeing in people in Wales, a weekly engagement survey is being carried out by Public Health Wales.

The telephone survey asks members of the public how coronavirus and related control measures are affecting them and how they are coping.

The information is collected from around 600 randomly selected people, the survey aims to provide data representative of the Welsh population by age, sex and deprivation.

Key findings from the latest Public Health Wales report reveal that family wellbeing is a significant concern for people, with 62 per cent worrying ‘a lot’ about losing someone they love to the virus.

65 per cent of those with children in their household worry ‘a lot’ about the wellbeing of their children.

Furthermore, 19 per cent of people are worrying ‘a lot’ about their own mental health and wellbeing.

The survey also shows that most people have support within their community, with 94 per cent of people saying that they can access support from family or friends when needed.

Of those surveyed, 37 per cent of people say that they are talking to family and friends even more than they normally do.

Despite this, statistics also reveal that 25 per cent of people ‘often’ or ‘always’ feel isolated.

Professor Mark Bellis, Director of Policy and International Health at Public Health Wales said: “Currently there is strong support across Wales for the actions taken to prevent the spread of the virus.

During these measures, most people feel they have support from within their communities – an essential element for health and wellbeing during these challenging times. 

“In fact, despite social distancing, many people are talking more than they usually would to family and friends and people in their communities, and this is really positive to hear.

However, even though we are keeping in touch, nearly one in five people are worried a lot about their mental health and wellbeing, which indicates there is still more support needed.”

The survey is part of a number of measures being implemented by Public Health Wales to support public health and wellbeing and this includes the recent launch of Public Health Wales’ ‘How are you doing?’ wellbeing campaign, created to support the people of Wales to look after their wellbeing and to ensure public health is protected during the isolation period.