OBJECTIVE: To examine risk perceptions and behavioural responses of the UK adult population during the early phase of the COVID-19 epidemic in the UK .

DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey .

SETTING: Conducted with a nationally representative sample of UK adults within 48 hours of the UK Government advising the public to stop non-essential contact with others and all unnecessary travel .

PARTICIPANTS: 2108 adults living in the UK aged 18 years and over. Response rate was 84.3% (2108/2500). Data collected between 17 March and 18 March 2020 .

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Descriptive statistics for all survey questions, including number of respondents and weighted percentages . Robust Poisson regression used to identify sociodemographic variation in: (1) adoption of social distancing measures, (2) ability to work from home, and (3) ability and (4) willingness to self-isolate .

RESULTS: Overall , 1992 (94.2 %) respondents reported at least one preventive measure : 85.8% washed their hands with soap more frequently; 56.5% avoided crowded areas and 54.5% avoided social events . Adoption of social distancing measures was higher in those aged over 70 years compared with younger adults aged 18-34 years (adjusted relative risk/aRR : 1.2; 95% CI : 1.1 to 1.5). Those with lowest household income were three times less likely to be able to work from home (aRR : 0.33; 95% CI : 0.24 to 0.45) and less likely to be able to self-isolate (aRR : 0.92; 95% CI : 0.88 to 0.96). Ability to self-isolate was also lower in black and minority ethnic groups (aRR : 0.89; 95% CI : 0.79 to 1.0). Willingness to self-isolate was high across all respondents .

CONCLUSIONS: Ability to adopt and comply with certain non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) is lower in the most economically disadvantaged in society . Governments must implement appropriate social and economic policies to mitigate this . By incorporating these differences in NPIs among socioeconomic subpopulations into mathematical models of COVID-19 transmission dynamics, our modelling of epidemic outcomes and response to COVID-19 can be improved.