However the ORB poll in the UK found that only 71 per cent of adults were staying in their homes or taking part in less social interaction - a key element of the Government's strategy to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Among those aged between 45 and 54, only 60 per cent said they were carrying out less social interaction or remaining in their homes. For those aged 65 or over the figure rose to 84 per cent.

A further generational divide was highlighted by a finding that almost one in four 18-24 year olds (24 per cent), and 19 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds, believe the threat from coronavirus has been "exaggerated", compared to just 13 per cent of over 65s.

Overall, 86 per cent of British respondents said they were washing their hands more frequently, with 18-24-year-olds slightly above average at 87 per cent. However the figure dropped to 76 per cent among those aged between 25 and 34.

In Italy, one of the worst affected countries, 87 per cent of respondents to a separate online poll of 1,000 people said they were washing their hands more frequently, compared to 85 per cent in France and 79 per cent in the Netherlands, based on identical surveys.

In Pakistan, which reported a sharp rise in infections last week, only 43 per cent said they were washing their hands more frequently. In Turkey the figure was 42 per cent.

The proportions of adults staying at home or taking part in less social interaction were significantly higher in Italy and France, at 93 per cent and 84 per cent respectively. However both countries imposed more draconian restrictions on the movements of their citizens than in the UK, where only 71 per cent said they had been staying at home or socialising less when the poll was carried out between Wednesday and Friday.

Of six possible precautions intended to protect themselves from the virus, British women were more likely to be carrying them out than men.

Some 89 per cent of women said they were washing their hands more frequently, compared to 83 per cent of men. Meanwhile 73 per cent of women were remaining in their homes or interacting less, with the figure dropping to 68 per cent among men.

In Italy, 93 per cent of respondents were prepared to sacrifice some of their human rights to help prevent the spread of the disease, compared to 94 per cent in Austria, 91 per cent in the Netherlands, 84 per cent in France and 71 per cent in Germany and Switzerland.

Confidence in the UK Government's handling of the pandemic was lower than in leaders in all but one of the other nine countries, which also included the Philippines.

Only 49 per cent of those polled in Britain said they thought the Government was handling the crisis well, compared to 72 per cent of Italians asked about their government, and 52 per cent of French respondents asked about theirs.