All plan B measures in England will be lifted next week, meaning an end to compulsory mask-wearing in shops, vaccine certificates for entering venues, and guidance to work from home. After Covid cases in the UK hit a record high and with daily deaths higher now than when the measures were introduced, are the public ready to embrace these freedoms?
Some are likely to be more than willing to let go of restrictions that have been financially and personally cumbersome, while others may be more cautious. Changing the rules will change behavior.
Prof Robert West, a behavioural scientist at University College London, said that the research has shown that rules have been the main feature of driving behavior. When you take the rules away, it won't happen immediately, but what we've seen previously is a gradual erosion of protective behaviours even when attitudes are not changing that much.
West says that the number of people wearing masks has fallen since it is no longer a requirement. People still thought it was a good idea, but fewer and fewer people were actually doing it.
According to West, the government's indication that it would allow the legal requirement to self-isolate to lapse did not necessarily mean that people would change their behavior.
The low adherence to self-isolation requirements is one of the reasons why we have done so badly in the UK. Changes to cannabis laws in the US are one of the things that I am not aware of major changes to behavior ahead of.
The social norm can shift once a threshold is crossed. Society does not move as a cohesive group, reflecting the wide differences in risk faced by different groups and also shaped by personal experiences during the Pandemic.
About a quarter of people are clinically vulnerable because of their age and health status, according to the director of the Centre for Behaviour Change. Many people have stopped going to restaurants and bars and are living very restricted lives. The level of infections that have been allowed to surge and stay high over many months is not related to the rules.
Young men have been the least likely to follow rules and are the group most likely to change their behavior once rules are lifted.
People respond to both messaging and the letter of the law. Simon Williams, a senior lecturer in people and organisation atSwansea University, said that people may have been left feeling uncertain about what behaviours were now recommended.
Despite the positive trend, rates are still high and caution is still important. The general advice to be cautious is too vague and conflicts with the message that is sent by the removal of policy measures and protections.
Many people feel that there have been mixed messages because of policies and messages not matching up.
Prof Stephen Reicher, a behavioural scientist at the University of St Andrews, said that the extent to which people can choose to be out and about depends on the extent to which choices are available. It may no longer be an option for many employees to work from home if government guidance is no longer in place. When the requirement to self-isolate ends in March, some people on low incomes may not have a choice.
Reicher said that they focus a lot on the issue of motivation. If you don't have the resources to do it, it's up to you.
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