Public Health Wales (PHW) has been conducting weekly surveys since April 2020 to highlight the effect of COVID-19 on the physical, mental and social well-being of Welsh people and how they are coping with the pandemic.
Key findings for the period from 22 June 2020 to 28 June 2020 are as follows:
- Nearly 46 per cent of individuals reported being ‘very or extremely’ concerned about children getting infected with COVID-19 in schools and transmitting it in their families and communities.
- Such concerns were greater among individuals in poorer areas than among those residing in the most affluent areas.
- Forty-one per cent were ‘very or extremely’ concerned about their children’s education and 44 per cent about their children’s social and emotional development being affected by schools getting back to normalcy too slowly.
- Twenty-three per cent Welsh public reported worsening of their financial situation as a result of coronavirus restrictions.
- The proportion of individuals worrying about their own mental health and well-being decreased to 12 per cent from 22 per cent in the previous week.
Professor Mark Bellis, Director of Policy and International Health at PHW, said: "People living in more deprived communities are more likely to have existing health conditions that make them especially vulnerable to the virus as well as friends and relatives with similar health problems. Naturally, such individuals can favour a slower relaxation of Coronavirus restrictions. Our results show how differences in vulnerability to Coronavirus may result in some communities having greater concerns about children returning to school and other services reopening."
