Older Brits say coronavirus has pulled the country together
Most older Britons believe the coronavirus pandemic has brought the country together amid a strictly enforced nationwide lockdown.
A survey of more than 2,000 adults conducted by polling agency YouGov showed that the majority, 59% of people, believed the country had been “brought together” by the crisis in recent weeks.
Only 11% of those questioned believed the coronavirus crisis had “pulled the country further apart” and 20% said it had “made no difference”.
Most of those who believe the virus has unified the country were older generations, 69% of over-60s compared to just 46% of 18 to 24-year-olds.
Meanwhile, both Remain and Leave voters from the 2016 referendum agreed that the virus had brought the country together, with 59% of Remainers and 66% of Leavers agreeing.
Last week, the government launched an appeal for 250,000 people to help vulnerable people who are self-isolating for 12 weeks.
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Recruitment of the “volunteer army” was so successful it had to be paused after the appeal attracted three times the initial target – with over 750,000 people signing up to serve.
A spokeswoman for the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) said it is hoped it will be up and running properly by mid-week.
Those signing up will be helping to deliver shopping and medication to those in need, transport patients and NHS equipment, or check in and chat on the phone with individuals at risk of loneliness as a result of self-isolation.
Thousands of costume designers, tailors and seamstresses have also come together in recent days to make urgently-needed scrubs for NHS workers.
Ashleigh Linsdell, a nurse at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire, set up Facebook group, For The Love Of Scrubs, last Monday.
Within a week more than 9,000 people joined to help make personal protective equipment (PPE) clothing from their homes, but they need funding.
