TY - JOUR

T1 - Social mixing patterns in the UK following the relaxation of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, July to August 2020

T2 - a cross-sectional online survey

AU - Bridgen, Jessica

AU - Jewell, Christopher

AU - Read, Jonathan

PY - 2022/12/13

Y1 - 2022/12/13

N2 - Objectives: To quantify and characterize non-household contact and to identify the effect of shielding and isolating on contact patterns.Design: Cross-sectional study.Setting and participants: Anyone living in the UK was eligible to take part in the study. We recorded 5,143 responses to the online questionnaire between 28 July and 14 August 2020.Outcome measures: Our primary outcome was the daily non-household contact rate of participants. Secondary outcomes were propensity to leave home over a 7 day period, whether contacts had occurred indoors or outdoors locations visited, furthest distance travelled from home, ability to socially distance, and membership of support bubble.Results: The mean rate of non-household contacts per person was 2.9 d-1. Participants attending a workplace (adjusted incidence rate ratio (aIRR) 3.33, 95%CI 3.02 to 3.66), self-employed (aIRR 1.63, 95%CI 1.43 to 1.87) or working in healthcare (aIRR 5.10, 95%CI 4.29 to 6.10) reported significantly higher non-household contact rates than those working from home. Participants self-isolating as a precaution or following Test and Trace instructions had a lower non-household contact rate than those not self-isolating (aIRR 0.58, 95%CI 0.43 to 0.79). We found limited evidence that those shielding had reduced non-household contacts compared to non-shielders.Conclusion: The daily rate of non-household interactions remained lower than pre-pandemic levels measured by other studies, suggesting continued adherence to social distancing guidelines. Individuals attending a workplace in-person or employed as healthcare professionals were less likely to maintain social distance and had a higher non-household contact rate, possibly increasing their infection risk. Shielding and self-isolating individuals required greater support to enable them to follow the government guidelines and reduce non-household contact and therefore their risk of infection.

AB - Objectives: To quantify and characterize non-household contact and to identify the effect of shielding and isolating on contact patterns.Design: Cross-sectional study.Setting and participants: Anyone living in the UK was eligible to take part in the study. We recorded 5,143 responses to the online questionnaire between 28 July and 14 August 2020.Outcome measures: Our primary outcome was the daily non-household contact rate of participants. Secondary outcomes were propensity to leave home over a 7 day period, whether contacts had occurred indoors or outdoors locations visited, furthest distance travelled from home, ability to socially distance, and membership of support bubble.Results: The mean rate of non-household contacts per person was 2.9 d-1. Participants attending a workplace (adjusted incidence rate ratio (aIRR) 3.33, 95%CI 3.02 to 3.66), self-employed (aIRR 1.63, 95%CI 1.43 to 1.87) or working in healthcare (aIRR 5.10, 95%CI 4.29 to 6.10) reported significantly higher non-household contact rates than those working from home. Participants self-isolating as a precaution or following Test and Trace instructions had a lower non-household contact rate than those not self-isolating (aIRR 0.58, 95%CI 0.43 to 0.79). We found limited evidence that those shielding had reduced non-household contacts compared to non-shielders.Conclusion: The daily rate of non-household interactions remained lower than pre-pandemic levels measured by other studies, suggesting continued adherence to social distancing guidelines. Individuals attending a workplace in-person or employed as healthcare professionals were less likely to maintain social distance and had a higher non-household contact rate, possibly increasing their infection risk. Shielding and self-isolating individuals required greater support to enable them to follow the government guidelines and reduce non-household contact and therefore their risk of infection.

U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059231

DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059231

M3 - Journal article

VL - 12

JO - BMJ Open

JF - BMJ Open

SN - 2044-6055

IS - 12

M1 - e059231

ER -