The study on the impact of the outbreak on the Crown Dependencies, carried out by Island Global Research, indicates that 80% of Manx and Sarnian respondents agree with how their leaders have combated the virus.
Meanwhile, in Jersey 42% of those surveyed felt the same way. The report, which was carried out in October, says that residents of all three islands felt the UK was at greater risk from the virus than their own island.
Both the Isle of Man and Guernsey have adopted stricter policies in containing the virus, including tighter border controls.
By comparison, Jersey has tried to strike a balance between keeping the virus in check and helping the economy by allowing more people in and out of the
Island.
Guernsey currently has three active cases and the Isle of Man has six, compared to Jersey, where there are now nearly 250.
Across the Crown Dependencies, residents who rated their life satisfaction as ‘thriving’, according to the survey, numbered 39% in Guernsey, 44% in the Isle of Man and 25% in Jersey.
The report says that residents in the other two Crown Dependencies are also far more confident about using local businesses.
‘Those in Jersey feel the least comfortable going out for leisure, eg to eat out, to events or to use sports facilities,’ it says.
‘People in Guernsey are least likely to report reduced demand for products/services at their place of work (17% in Guernsey, 24% in the Isle of Man and 26% in
Jersey).
‘The percentage of people who had experienced any reduction in their income was 17% in Guernsey, 20% in the Isle of Man and 23% in Jersey.’
The report also indicates growing pessimism in all of the islands’ residents about the impact of the coronavirus.
It says: ‘Around a quarter of people (24%) say they experienced a moderate or large amount of stress/anxiety in the week prior to the survey. Just under half (47%) of these said news about Covid-19 was a cause.
‘Those in Jersey are slightly more likely than those in Guernsey or the Isle of Man to say that in the last week they have: not felt optimistic about the future; lacked companionship; experienced a large amount of stress; and of those, say news about Covid and/or financial pressures is a cause of stress.
‘Among the respondents in our tracking sample, since June, perceptions of the threat of Covid-19 have heightened. There is less optimism about the future, and news about Covid-19 is more likely to be a source of stress.’
The responses were collected between 26 October and 1 November 2020. The survey was completed by 3,171 residents across the Crown Dependencies – 1,063 in Jersey, 1,168 respondents in Guernsey and 940 in the Isle of Man.
