A new study shows that 86% of respondents rate home office management as appropriate

The occupational health and safety regulation for coronavirus has been in place across Germany since late January. It urges companies to allow their employees to work from home, for as long as their work allows.

As the results of the 28th edition of the BfR-Corona-Monitor, a regular study by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), show, the regulation meets the consensus of the majority of the population.

86 per cent of respondents rate home office management as appropriate. This shows that people are also adapting to the changes in their daily working lives to the presence of the coronavirus. “

Dr. Andreas Hensel, Professor and BfR-President, BfR Federal Institute for Risk Assessment

Day care centers and schools remain closed except for emergency care. However, this measure is considered appropriate by a reduced number of respondents: Since the beginning of the year, approval has fallen 10 percentage points from 67 per cent to now 57 per cent.

A similar improvement can be seen in the acceptance of shop closures: In the current study, around half of respondents consider the measure to be appropriate. Shortly before Christmas, this figure was still at 66 per cent.

The lockout, which has been in place since November, is seen as a burden. The number of people worried about their social relationships rose from 30 percent at the beginning of the year to 40 percent in the current poll and is therefore higher than at any other time in the survey.

In addition, the proportion of people who think that the existing communication restrictions are appropriate has fallen to 69 per cent, which is at a very low level as it was in the early summer of 2020 .

However, concerns about the impact of the crown virus on the state of the economy and physical health have remained fairly constant at between 20 and 23 per cent in recent weeks. In the current survey, a quarter say they are concerned about their own mental health.

The age group of 14 to 39 year olds is particularly influential: Here, just under half of respondents are concerned about their social relationships and a good third about their mental health. This is much less in the older age groups.