(Bloomberg) -- More U.K. employees are traveling to a job than working from home, adding to indications that fewer people are adhering strictly to lockdown rules to control the coronavirus.
The Office for National Statistics said almost half of people reported leaving home for work at least once this week, reducing the portion of home working over the past few weeks. A separate report found 41% of those over 80 who had one dose of the vaccine met someone outside their household or support bubble.
Britain remains mired in a third national lockdown, capping almost a year of restrictions since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak. Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to slowly loosen restrictions through the middle of the year, starting with reopening schools on March 8.
Those findings were based on a survey of 6,028 people aged 16 and older between Feb. 24 and Feb. 28.
The statistics office said two-in-five businesses were furloughing staff in January, with 4.9 million people or 16.1% of the workforce in the program that pays 80% of wages to those whose workplace has closed due to the virus. London had the highest share workers on furlough than any other region.
A report on Thursday showed nationwide motor vehicle traffic rose 3 percentage points on March 1 compared with the previous week and is now at 73% of the level seen in the first week of February 2020.
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