Millions need one other Covid lockdown because of hectic life as we miss ‘peace and quiet’

On Mar 25, 2025

EXCLUSIVE: As it comes to five years since the world was plunged into lockdown due to Covid-19, some people actually miss life on the inside as the hectic daily lives are back

20:06, 25 Mar 2025

TOPSHOT - A pedestrian wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past COVID-19 street art, advising to "Stay Alert" anfd "Save Lives" in central London, on November 22, 2020, as the four-week national shutdown imposed in England continues, forcing people to stay home and businesses to close owing to a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will confirm that coronavirus lockdown restrictions across England are to end on December 2, his office said Saturday. The lockdown will be followed by a return to a three-tiered set of regional restrictions as part of the government's "COVID Winter Plan", it added in a statement.

Brits want to be put on lockdown again (stock)(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Millions of us are pining after pandemic lockdown days as life gets too hectic again five years on.

Around half of us miss at least some aspects of the Covid lockdown, but that number jumps to almost 70% for 16-34 year olds.

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Many say they feel burned out by modern life and yearn for the cheaper lifestyle, unclogged roads and peace of the imposed quarantine.

Gideon Skinner, of market research giant Ipsos, which conducted the poll, said: “Our research shows how much Britons think their lives have changed, revealing a stark generational divide.

“Younger Brits are more likely to say they are lonelier and are spending more time on screens since before the pandemic, while older generations are most likely to feel things haven’t changed.

With most Londoners still working at home, a solitary pedestrian dashes out to cross the road where a yellow grid box junction remains empty during the third lockdown of the Coronavirus pandemic, on 22 February 2021, in London, England. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)

Many feel like life is becoming too hectic (stock)(Image: In Pictures via Getty Images)

“Half of the public still say they miss aspects of lockdown, particularly the peace and quiet of the time.”

Almost 12 million people were furloughed during the pandemic, at a cost of £70 billion as the government subsidised salaries.

Many crave the freedom that the break from work gave them, with 40% saying they found “time to think”.

Almost a third miss having time for new hobbies and the same number loved not having to concoct excuses for staying home.

Pollsters also quizzed people over the lasting effects of Covid.

Mr Skinner added: “Almost half feel that the pandemic changed the world for the worse overall, with trust in government a particular casualty.

“But at the same time many feel that the long-term impact on their day-to-day lives has been limited, with perceptions of its negative influence falling away over the last few years.”

Closed stores on empty street in London during lockdown in London while the city faced supply shortages at supermarkets

Some Brits just want peace and quiet (stock)(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Folk remain fearful of another deadly disease striking, with a third thinking one will hit within the next five years.

Almost 230,000 people died in the UK with Covid-19 listed as one of the causes on their death certificate.

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The disease wiped out more than 7million worldwide.