One in three think Britain’s handling of Covid damaged its reputation

One in three Britons think the UK’s handling of the Covid crisis has had a negative impact on the country’s international reputation, according to new research.

The study, conducted by Ipsos MORI for the Policy Institute at King's College London, reveals that people are more likely to think the UK’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis has damaged rather than improved the nation’s standing.

Around a third (36 per cent) of respondents said the UK’s handling of the pandemic has had a negative impact on the UK’s reputation around the world, while 21 per cent think it has had a positive impact and 31 per cent who said it made no difference.

The findings put the UK on a par with the US in terms of how negatively its Covid response is viewed by its own citizens.

In the US, 38 per cent think the country’s handling of the pandemic has had a negative impact on its international reputation, while 21 per cent think its impact has been positive and 25 per cent feel it has had no effect.

The US has suffered marginally worse Covid death rates. Data from the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine Coronavirus Resource Centre shows the US has recorded a deaths per 100,000 population rate of 233, compared with 215 in the UK.

The study also found that the public has become “more wary” about opening up to the world.

Some 36 per cent of Britons said the country should take further steps to protect itself from the rest of the world, up from 23 per cent in 2019.

The figures are derived from polling of 1,129 UK adults aged 16-75 between 29 October and 1 November, 1,099 adults aged 18-75 in the US between 1 and 4 November, and 1,088 adults aged 18-75 in Canada between 2 and 5 November.

Professor Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, said: “These latest results show that although concerns about opening up to the world have increased in the UK and US recent years, most people still think greater cooperation between nations on global health issues is a good thing.

”We can see how international cooperation can create momentum in tackling financial crises and climate change.

“However, this has not been the case for Covid-19 with many countries going it on their own and not learning from others, which has meant the pandemic has been prolonged.

”To prepare and overcome the next pandemic it is imperative that we work multilaterally.“

Bobby Duffy, professor of public policy and director of the Policy Institute at KCL, said the public appears to be ”in two minds“ on whether to hunker down or reach out to the rest of the world.

He continued: ”But it's actually an understandable response - people feel like we should think of ourselves first in the current crisis, but work with others to help prevent future global health challenges.

“That makes sense: the pandemic has shown how disconnected our plans and response are, and hopefully lessons will be learnt for the future - but we shouldn't count on it without continued effort, as we tend to always focus down on the immediate when we're dealing with a crisis and its aftermath.”

Kelly Beaver, chief executive of Ipsos MORI, said: “The concerns about global health issues such as the pandemic have clearly sunk in with the public in the UK, who are now more likely to believe that the country should take further steps to protect itself from today’s world.

“And whilst there is that concern among the public about opening up to the rest of the world too much given the potential pandemic risks, there is a very clear sense among Britons that we should be working more closely with other nations when it comes to other global health issues, highlighting the support for a multilateral approach to such issues.”