Just under half of Manx residents think that Covid-19 poses a high risk or very high risk to the island.

The figures were released by Island Global Research, which is monitoring attitudes to Covid-19 in the British Isles.

In the week of May 11 to May 17, 48% of the 404 Manx respondents said they still perceive Covid-19 as high risk, a fall from 67% on April 20 and 85% on March 23.

In Guernsey the recent figure was 44% while in Jersey it is 62% and 84% in the UK.

Quite probably linked to that is that 58% of Manx respondents believe that they agree or strongly agree with the actions taken by the Manx government. In recent weeks, the island could be seen to have suppressed the virus as very small number of new cases are being recorded.

Compared with the other Crown Dependencies, only 38% of Jersey residents agree or strongly agree with what their government has done. In Guernsey this figure is 83%.

In Jersey, 36% of residents disagree or strongly disagree with their government’s response, that falls to 15% here and 7% in Guernsey.

Here, 59% believe the relaxation of restrictions are being paced ’about right’ while 23% say it is too fast and 10% believe it is too slow.

The IGR polling also looked at what people would be comfortable doing as restrictions are lifted. Two thirds (66%) of Manx residents will feel comfortable visiting friends and family, which they have now been able to do since Wednesday with some restrictions.

However, no other activity listed polled above 50%. Only 44% of people said they would feel comfortable going to shop for non-essential items, cafes and restaurants 25%, bars and nightclubs 15%, music or sporting events 13%, travelling off-island to visit friends or family 30% and 17% using indoor leisure facilities.