1/6 Short thread on relationship between rising infections/new variant, public behaviour, and policy announcements
tldr: Public behaviour really matters in mitigating infection spread; but it's not only behaviour that matters, since behaviour interacts with policy announcements
2/6 Public adherence to physical distancing regulations (2 metre rule) has always been high
BUT adherence has also varied by time, location, and demographic
3/6 The sharp rise in infections we are currently seeing has occurred at the same time as reductions in public adherence to physical distancing, which are associated with government announcements implying relaxation was possible.
4/6 This recent (and sadly under-publicised) SPI-B/ SAGE document provides vital recommendations on, among other things, what the public can do to help prevent spread of the new variant
3/6 Evidence from another type of public health emergency intervention - CBRN mass decontamination - suggests that coercion can have a backfire effect, leading to resistance not engagement
The findings of the '2 chairs' study have been replicated in numerous student projects, and complemented by field studies also showing the tendency to get physically closer to in-group members: