Australians are gradually becoming more social and relying less on home deliveries as coronavirus lockdowns lift, but 96 per cent of people are still taking at least one precaution to limit the spread of COVID-19.

The latest ABS Household Impacts of COVID-19 survey, taken in late June, ahead of the current Victorian restrictions, shows the vast majority of people were still changing their lifestyle to minimise virus spread, even as they started going out more.

The most common behavioural change was keeping distance from people, with 92 per cent reporting that they were taking this precaution.

The next most common precaution was disinfecting surfaces, with more than two-thirds doing this, followed by avoiding social gatherings, public spaces and public transport, all of which were being practised by more than half the population.

However, Australians did become more social over the past month, with two-thirds avoiding social gatherings in late June compared to 79 per cent towards the end of May.

In line with the easing of restrictions on going out, Australians are also relying less on home deliveries, with one-in-five having ordered a home delivery over the survey week, down from 27 per cent in May.

The increase in social activity also appeared to have immediate benefits for Australians’ mental and physical health.

The proportion of people reporting loneliness dropped from 22 per cent in April to 9 per cent in June.

Also decreasing by 50 per cent or more were the rates of people reporting problems in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, managing health concerns or relationship difficulties.

The decline in personal problems fed into a dramatic fall in the proportion of Australians reporting feelings that can be associated with anxiety and depression.

Feelings of restlessness and fidgeting dropped from 42 per cent to a quarter of respondents, with nervousness falling from 35 per cent to the same level, while there was also a decrease in the proportion of people who felt “everything was an effort at least some of the time”.

The Bureau of Statistics reported that, aside from nervousness, the measures of emotional and mental wellbeing reported at the end of June were very similar to those recorded in a pre-pandemic national health survey.

“Now that some parts of the country are either having to reinstate some restrictions, or put a pause on easing them, it will be important to understand what impact this is likely to have on people’s mental health,” the ABS’s head of household surveys, Michelle Marquardt, observed.