Most people in UK don't trust Johnson can take England out of COVID-19 lockdown: Survey

Only 24 per cent of people in the United Kingdom think Prime Minister Boris Johnson can safely take England out of its third COVID-19 lockdown, a new poll released ahead of Johnson's much-awaited announcement on a roadmap to normality has shown on Monday.

According to the survey carried out by the Savanta ComRes polling firm for The Independent newspaper between February 12 and 14, only 8 per cent of voters said they trust the prime minister "completely," compared to 16 per cent who trust him "a lot."

Among the sceptics, around 17 per cent said they did not trust him much and 14 per cent said they did not trust him at all, for a 31 per cent of mistrust, while 37 per cent was neutral and 8 per cent did not know.

According to The Independent, the findings may reflect voters' experience of hearing Johnson say last year that he could "turn the tide" on COVID-19 in 12 weeks, only to see harsher restrictions to be imposed in three separate lockdowns.

The prime minister, who is facing pressure from fellow Conservative lawmakers to lift the lockdown by the end of April, is set to unveil the government's roadmap out of lockdown before Parliament later on Monday, before addressing the nation at a press conference in the evening.

He has said that he will take a "cautious" approach in order to guarantee that the easing of restrictions be irreversible.

"Our decisions will be made on the latest data at every step, and we will be cautious about this approach so that we do not undo the progress we have achieved so far and the sacrifices each and every one of you has made to keep yourself and others safe," he stressed in a statement released by his office.

Speaking ahead of Johnson's announcement, vaccine deployment minister Nadhim Zahawi said schools would reopen from March 8, when two people from different households will also be allowed to meet outdoors for a picnic, a drink or a cup of coffee.

The government has said that the roadmap for easing restrictions will be based on the success of the vaccine deployment program, evidence that vaccines are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalization and deaths, the certainty that a surge of infections would not overwhelm the health service and the assessment that new variants of the virus do not change the risk of lifting the lockdown. (/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )

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