According to a survey measuring the sentiment of United Kingdom (UK) consumers undertaking daily activities amid the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, all reported feel more comfortable undertaking daily activities in ********* as compared to ********. The daily activity in which UK consumers feel most comfortable undertaking is walking in public. This daily activity also saw the greatest change in comfortableness from May to July, where in May only ** percent of UK consumer's felt comfortable walking in public and in July 73 percent felt comfortable doing so. The daily activity in which UK consumer's feel least comfortable undertaking, despite the easing of lockdown restrictions is trying on clothes in a store. Only ** percent surveyed stated they feel comfortable trying on clothes in a store in *********.

This data was used to examine how changes to socializing and working during the UK's first national lockdown impacted ongoing thought patterns in daily life. We compared the prevalence of thought patterns (identified using Principal Components Analysis, PCA) between two independent real-world experience-sampling cohorts, collected before- and during lockdown. In both samples, young (18-35 y) and older (55+ y) participants completed experience-sampling measures five times daily for seven days. Dimension reduction (PCA) was applied to these data to identify common “patterns of thought”. Linear mixed modelling compared the prevalence of each thought pattern (i) before- and during lockdown, (ii) in different age groups and (iii) across different social and activity contexts. During lockdown, when people were alone, social thinking was reduced, but on the rare occasions when social interactions were possible, we observed a greater increase in social thinking than prelockdown. Furthermore, lockdown was associated with a reduction in future-directed problem-solving, but this thought pattern was reinstated when individuals engaged in work. Therefore, our study suggests that the lockdown led to significant changes in ongoing thought patterns in daily life and these changes were associated with changes to our daily routine that occurred during lockdown.

For full details of how this data was collected, see Mckeown et al (2021), PNAS, The impact of social isolation and changes in work patterns on ongoing thought during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom.

Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) data on public attitudes and behaviours relating to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Great Britain: February 2022

The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) is an omnibus survey collecting data on a range of subjects commissioned by both internal Office for National Statistics (ONS) and external clients (limited to; other government departments, charities, non-profit organisations and academia). Data is collected from 1 adult selected from each sampled private household. Personal data include person, family, address, household, income, education plus responses and opinions on a variety of subjects within commissioned modules. The dataset includes a standard set of demographic variables and a single commissioned module.

In March 2020, the OPN was adapted to become a weekly survey used to collect data on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on day-to-day life in Great Britain. From 25 August 2021, as COVID-19 restrictions began to be lifted across Great Britain, the OPN moved to a fortnightly data collection with the sample size at around 5,000 households in each period to help ensure the survey remains sustainable.

Prior to the changes in frequency to the OPN survey during the coronavirus pandemic, there had been on-going improvements to the OPN. In recent years, work has been undertaken to change the design of the OPN from a face-to-face survey to a mixed mode design (online first with telephone follow-up). Mixed mode collection allows respondents to complete the survey more flexibly and provides a more cost-effective service for customers.

The questionnaire collects timely data for research and policy analysis evaluation into the impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on individuals and households in Great Britain.

The entire oil and gas ecosystem is unsettled by the unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19. Daily activities of producers, equipment and service providers, EPC contractors, storage and transportation companies, fleet operators, traders, and marketers are getting delayed or cancelled. This is potentially creating gaps along the oil and gas supply chain, which might take a while to fix. Read More

The Social Distancing and Development Study (SDDS) aimed to examine how changes in sleep, parenting style, social interactions, screen use and activities affect young children’s language and cognitive development since the Spring 2020 UK lockdown. This longitudinal study followed a cohort of nearly 900 children aged 8 to 36 months of age, enrolled in an online study at the onset or during the Spring 2020 UK lockdown, to capture changes in their environment and measure their impact on children’s vocabulary size and executive function. Since Spring 2020, we have collected data at three additional timepoints: T2 – End of the Spring 2020 lockdown, T3 – November 2020 lockdown, and T4 – One-year follow-up.On 20th March 2020, the UK Government instigated a nationwide nursery and school closure in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, followed by instructions for people to stay at home. For millions of children, this brought stark changes to their routines, with a decrease in outdoor activities and interactions with others. The environments children grow up in heavily influence key elements of cognitive development such as language and executive functions, which in turn associate with later educational and occupational attainment as well as health and wellbeing. The COVID-19 pandemic is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime situation that has dramatically changed the daily lives of millions of families. Several environmental factors likely to be affected by quarantine measures (such as sleep, parenting style and social interactions, screen use, and outdoor activities/exercise) are known predictors of language and executive function development. The proposed study will follow up a UK-wide cohort of 600 children aged 8 to 36 months of age, enrolled in an online study at the onset of social distancing measures, to capture changes in key environmental variables and measure their impact on children's vocabulary size and executive function. Using sophisticated analyses on a large and diverse sample, we will examine the role of each factor on children's cognitive abilities. At this time of unforeseen and ongoing change, it is imperative to understand the impacts of the lockdown on cognition during a critical period for development (0 to 3 years of age), and then find strategies to minimise disruption to this cohort. Our findings will identify approaches that mitigate the temporary loss of formal early years' education, identify those groups most at risk of adverse consequences, and inform policy on how to remediate the negative impacts of lockdown post-COVID-19.

Interacting with family members and friends from other households is a key part of everyday life and is crucial to people’s mental well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic severely curtailed face-to-face contact between households, particularly for older adults (aged 60 and above), due to their high risk of developing severe illness if infected by COVID-19. In-person contact, where possible, was largely replaced by virtual interaction during the pandemic. This article examines how inter-household contact in face-to-face and virtual forms, as well as combinations of the two forms of contact, related to older adults’ mental well-being during the pandemic. Data from two national longitudinal surveys, collected from the same respondents before (2018–2019) and during (June 2020) the pandemic, were comparatively analysed: the Health and Retirement Study in the US and Understanding Society in the UK. The findings showed a notable increase in loneliness in the US and a decline in general mental well-being in the UK following the outbreak of COVID-19. In both countries, more frequent inter-household face-to-face contact during the pandemic was associated with better general mental well-being, but inter-household virtual contact, via means such as telephone and digital media, was not associated with general mental well-being in either the US or the UK. In the US, older adults who engaged more frequently in virtual contact were more likely to feel lonely during the pandemic, particularly if their face-to-face contact was limited. In both countries, the increase in loneliness following the outbreak of the pandemic was greater for older adults who reported more virtual contact. The findings suggest that household-centred crisis management during the COVID-19 pandemic had unintended mental health implications in both the US and the UK, despite contextual differences between the two countries. Although face-to-face contact between households helped to sustain older adults’ mental well-being, virtual contact was not a qualitatively equivalent alternative. The findings also provide an important evidence base for informing policy developments and for supporting the mental health of older people during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the longer term.

ObjectivesSleep problems are a transdiagnostic feature of nearly all psychiatric conditions, and a strong risk factor for initial and recurrent episodes. However, people with severe mental ill health (SMI) are often excluded from general population surveys, and as such the extent and associates of poor sleep in this population are less well understood. This study explores sleep health in an SMI sample during the COVID-19 pandemic, using multiple regression to identify risk factors, including daily routine, wellbeing and demographics.MethodsAn existing cohort of people with an SMI diagnosis were sampled. Participants were invited to complete a self-report survey about their health and the impacts of COVID-19 and associated public health measures. Sleep duration, efficiency, and quality were measured using items from the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).ResultsTwo hundred forty-nine adults (aged 21–84 years) completed the survey. Mean sleep duration and efficiency were similar to general population estimates, at 7 h 19 min and 78%, respectively. However, 43% reported “bad” sleep quality that was associated with being younger in age as well as disturbed routine and declined wellbeing. Indeed, 37% reported a disturbed routine during the pandemic.ConclusionsHigh estimates of perceived poor sleep quality in the SMI population align with previous findings. Supporting people with SMI to maintain routine regularity may work to protect sleep quality and wellbeing. Future research should more closely examine sleep health in people with SMI, using accessible and scalable measures of objective and subjective sleep, examining longitudinal trends.

This collection contains photographs of ad-hoc, local, and/or temporary commemoration of the Covid-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland and Ireland in July 2022. It covers plaques, memorials, religious sites, and murals. The photographs cover republican and unionist communities, in Belfast, Londonderry/Derry, Donaghdee, and Dublin. The data was collected as part of the broader project: “The Challenge of Mass Deaths for Social Order in a Transnational Context: Experiencing COVID-19”, which studied death as, tragically, the central characteristic of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom and abroad. It understood Covid-19 deaths as, in addition to private family tragedies, a political event with important implications for collective memory and social order. In particular, the study examined how ideas of time – of “timeliness” of decisions/deaths, of the meaning of a “lifetime”, of differential experiences of waiting and urgency/emergency – produced different experiences of pandemic death and grief. More precisely, the study did three things. First, it looked at how ideas of time were important to framing mass Covid-19 deaths as inevitable (or not) in three European countries, showing that “inevitability” was a matter of politics, rather than scale of death. Second, it looked at how the “pause” of Covid-19 lockdown interrupted the daily rhythms of life in Northern Ireland/Ireland, with local practices of ad-hoc Covid-19 commemoration demonstrating evidence of important, if brief, cross-community solidarity. (This is the aim to which the data contained here was collected). Third, and finally, the project looked at practices of body repatriation, a tragic but important and often-invisible form of transnational cooperation that upholds international social order and works to provide timely individual dignity in death.

Supplementary files for article The effect of COVID rehabilitation for ongoing symptoms post hospitalisation with COVID-19 (PHOSP-R): protocol for a randomised parallel group controlled trial on behalf of the PHOSP consortium Introduction: Many adults hospitalised with COVID-19 have persistent symptoms such as fatigue, breathlessness and brain fog that limit day-to-day activities. These symptoms can last over 2 years. Whilst there is limited controlled studies on interventions that can support those with ongoing symptoms, there has been some promise in rehabilitation interventions in improving function and symptoms either using face-to-face or digital methods, but evidence remains limited and these studies often lack a control group. Methods and analysis: This is a nested single-blind, parallel group, randomised control trial with embedded qualitative evaluation comparing rehabilitation (face-to-face or digital) to usual care and conducted within the PHOSP-COVID study. The aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions on exercise capacity, quality of life and symptoms such as breathlessness and fatigue. The primary outcome is the Incremental Shuttle Walking Test following the eight week intervention phase. Secondary outcomes include measures of function, strength and subjective assessment of symptoms. Blood inflammatory markers and muscle biopsies are an exploratory outcome. The interventions last eight weeks and combine symptom-titrated exercise therapy, symptom management and education delivered either in a face-to-face setting or through a digital platform (www.yourcovidrecovery.nhs.uk). The proposed sample size is 159 participants, and data will be intention-to-treat analyses comparing rehabilitation (face-to-face or digital) to usual care. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval was gained as part of the PHOSP-COVID study by Yorkshire and the Humber Leeds West Research NHS Ethics Committee, and the study was prospectively registered on the ISRCTN trial registry (ISRCTN13293865). Results will be disseminated to stakeholders, including patients and members of the public, and published in appropriate journals. Article summary Strengths and limitations of this study • This protocol utilises two interventions to support those with ongoing symptoms of COVID-19 • This is a two-centre parallel-group randomised controlled trial • The protocol has been supported by patient and public involvement groups who identified treatments of symptoms and activity limitation as a top priority

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. The UCL COVID-19 Social Study at University College London (UCL) was launched on 21 March 2020. Led by Dr Daisy Fancourt and Professor Andrew Steptoe from the Department of Behavioural Science and Health, the team designed the study to track in real-time the psychological and social impact of the virus across the UK. The study quickly became the largest in the country, growing to over 70,000 participants and providing rare and privileged insight into the effects of the pandemic on people’s daily lives. Through our participants’ remarkable two-year commitment to the study, 1.2 million surveys were collected over 105 weeks, and over 100 scientific papers and 44 public reports were published. During COVID-19, population mental health has been affected both by the intensity of the pandemic (cases and death rates), but also by lockdowns and restrictions themselves. Worsening mental health coincided with higher rates of COVID-19, tighter restrictions, and the weeks leading up to lockdowns. Mental health then generally improved during lockdowns and most people were able to adapt and manage their well-being. However, a significant proportion of the population suffered disproportionately to the rest, and stay-at-home orders harmed those who were already financially, socially, or medically vulnerable. Socioeconomic factors, including low SEP, low income, and low educational attainment, continued to be associated with worse experiences of the pandemic. Outcomes for these groups were worse throughout many measures including mental health and wellbeing; financial struggles;self-harm and suicide risk; risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing long Covid; and vaccine resistance and hesitancy. These inequalities existed before the pandemic and were further exacerbated by COVID-19, and such groups remain particularly vulnerable to the future effects of the pandemic and other national crises.Further information, including reports and publications, can be found on the UCL COVID-19 Social Study website. Main Topics: The study asked baseline questions on the following: Demographics, including year of birth, sex, ethnicity, relationship status, country of dwelling, urban/rural dwelling, type of accommodation, housing tenure, number of adults and children in the household, household income, education, employment status, pet ownership, and personality. Health and health behaviours, including pre-existing physical health conditions, diagnosed mental health conditions, pregnancy, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, caring responsibilities, usual social behaviours, and social network size. It also asked repeated questions at every wave on the following: COVID-19 status, including whether the respondent had had COVID-19, whether they had come into likely contact with COVID-19, current isolation status and motivations for isolation, length of isolation, length of time not leaving the home, length of time not contacting others, trust in government, trust in the health service, adherence to health advice, and experience of adverse events due to COVID-19 (including severe illness within the family, bereavement, redundancy, or financial difficulties). Mental health, including wellbeing, depression, anxiety, which factors were causing stress, sleep quality, loneliness, social isolation, and changes in health behaviours such as smoking, drinking and exercise. How people were spending their time whilst in isolation, including questions on working, functional household activities, care, and schooling of any children in the household, hobbies, and relaxation. Certain waves of the study also included one-off modules on topics including volunteering behaviours, locus of control, frustrations and expectations, coping styles, fear of COVID-19, resilience, arts and creative engagement, life events, weight, gambling behaviours, mental health diagnosis, use of financial support, faith and religion, relationships, neighbourhood satisfaction, healthcare usage, discrimination experiences, life changes, optimism, long COVID and COVID-19 vaccination.

Explore the interactive maps showing the average delay and average speed on the Strategic Road Network and Local ‘A’ Roads in England, in 2020.

Additional http://bit.ly/COVID_Congestion_Analysis" class="govuk-link">Analysis on the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the road journeys is also available. This story map contains charts and interactive maps for road journeys in England.

On the Strategic Road Network (SRN) for 2020, the average delay is estimated to be 6.7 seconds per vehicle per mile compared to speed limits travel times, a 29.5% decrease compared to 2019.

The average speed is estimated to be 61.8mph, 5.1% up on 2019.

In 2020, on average 42.1% of additional time was needed compared to speed limits travel times, on individual road sections of the SRN to ensure on time arrival. This is down 25.2 percentage points compared to 2019, so on average a lower proportion of additional time is required.

On local ‘A’ roads for 2020, the average delay is estimated to be 33.9 seconds per vehicle per mile compared to free flow travel times. This is a decrease of 22.8% on 2019.

The average speed is estimated to be 27.3 mph. This is an increase of 8.2% on 2019.

The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) has had a marked impact on everyday life, including on congestion on the road network. As these data are affected by the coronavirus pandemic in the UK, caution should be taken when interpreting these statistics and comparing them with previous time periods. While values had previously been moving towards their pre-lockdown levels, this trend appears to have reversed in the months following September 2020.

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Explore the interactive maps showing the average delay and average speed on the Strategic Road Network and Local ‘A’ Roads in England, in 2021.

On the Strategic Road Network (SRN) for 2021, the average delay is estimated to be 8.5 seconds per vehicle per mile (spvpm), compared to free flow, a 16.4% increase on the previous year.

The average speed is estimated to be 58.9 mph, down 1.8% from 2020.

On local ‘A’ roads for 2021, the average delay is estimated to be 46.1 seconds per vehicle per mile (spvpm) compared to free flow.

The average speed is estimated to be 24.1 mph.

The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) has had a marked impact on everyday life, including on congestion on the road network. As these data are affected by the coronavirus pandemic in the UK, caution should be taken when interpreting these statistics and comparing them with previous time periods. Additional http://bit.ly/COVID_Congestion_Analysis" class="govuk-link">analysis on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on road journeys in 2020 is also available. This Storymap contains charts and interactive maps for road journeys in England in 2020.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) is an omnibus survey that collects data from respondents in Great Britain. Information is gathered on a range of subjects, commissioned both internally by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and by external clients (other government departments, charities, non-profit organisations and academia).One individual respondent, aged 16 or over, is selected from each sampled private household to answer questions. Data are gathered on the respondent, their family, address, household, income and education, plus responses and opinions on a variety of subjects within commissioned modules. Each regular OPN survey consists of two elements. Core questions, covering demographic information, are asked together with non-core questions that vary depending on the module(s) fielded.The OPN collects timely data for research and policy analysis evaluation on the social impacts of recent topics of national importance, such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the cost of living. The OPN has expanded to include questions on other topics of national importance, such as health and the cost of living.For more information about the survey and its methodology, see the gov.uk OPN Quality and Methodology Information (QMI) webpage.Changes over timeUp to March 2018, the OPN was conducted as a face-to-face survey. From April 2018 to November 2019, the OPN changed to a mixed-mode design (online first with telephone interviewing where necessary). Mixed-mode collection allows respondents to complete the survey more flexibly and provides a more cost-effective service for module customers.In March 2020, the OPN was adapted to become a weekly survey used to collect data on the social impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the lives of people of Great Britain. These data are held under Secure Access conditions in SN 8635, ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, Covid-19 Module, 2020-2022: Secure Access. (See below for information on other Secure Access OPN modules.)From August 2021, as coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions were lifted across Great Britain, the OPN moved to fortnightly data collection, sampling around 5,000 households in each survey wave to ensure the survey remained sustainable. Secure Access OPN modulesBesides SN 8635 (the COVID-19 Module), other Secure Access OPN data includes sensitive modules run at various points from 1997-2019, including Census religion (SN 8078), cervical cancer screening (SN 8080), contact after separation (SN 8089), contraception (SN 8095), disability (SNs 8680 and 8096), general lifestyle (SN 8092), illness and activity (SN 8094), and non-resident parental contact (SN 8093). See the individual studies for further details and information on how to apply to use them. Main Topics: The non-core questions for this month were: Tobacco consumption (Module 210): this module was asked on behalf of HM Revenue and Customs to help estimate the amount of tobacco consumed as cigarettes. Due to the potentially sensitive nature of the data within this module, cases for respondents aged under 18 have been removed. Disability monitoring (Module 363): this module was asked on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) which is interested in information on disability and includes two questions that ask about awareness of the Disability Discrimination Act. The module aims to identify the scale of problems those with long-term illnesses or disabilities have accessing goods, facilities and services. This version of the data does not contain variables M363_3M, M363_6AM, M363_6bM, M363_7M, M363_26, M363_27, M363_28, and M363_29. The Special Licence version of the data is held under SN 6992. Road Pricing (Module MAE): this module was asked on behalf of the Department for Transport and asks for opinions on road pricing. Disability (Module MCA): this module was asked by the Office for National Statistics on behalf of the Centre for Health Analysis and Life Events and seeks information regarding health problems which are long-lasting in nature and cause problems with normal daily activities. Variables MCA_1b1M and MCA_2b2M have been recoded into smaller groupings. Later life (Module MCE): this module was asked by DWP on behalf of a number of other government departments which are interested in what people think of the support available to help older people to continue to live independently in later life. Health and work (Module MCP): this module was asked by DWP on behalf of the Health, Work and Well-being Delivery Unit. Questions relate to health, well-being and work. This version of the data does not contain variables MCP_14, MCP_15M, MCP_16 and MCP_17 as they are considered disclosive. Migration (Module MCR): this module was asked on behalf of ONS and looks at migration into the UK and patterns of movement around the UK after arrival. The UN recommendation for defining an international long-term migrant, 'a person who moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year' was used. Multi-stage stratified random sample Face-to-face interview