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The latest study comes as Health Minister Zweli Mkhize urges South Africans to remain on high alert. This after he observed an increase in new infections.
Jacques Stander, Gallo Images
- South Africans are less afraid of the coronavirus and have behaved in risky ways, such as not wearing masks.
- This according to a survey that found that there is increasing pandemic fatigue and greater complacency in complying with public health measures.
- The survey found that nearly half of its respondents thought the Covid-19 threat was overblown.
South Africans are less afraid of the coronavirus and have behaved in risky ways, such as not wearing masks.
On Thursday, the Center for Social Change at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), in partnership with the State Human Sciences Development, Capacity and Ethics Research Council (HSRC), released the latest summary findings from the UJ / HSRC Covid-19 Democracy Survey.
These findings illustrated, among other things, that there is increasing pandemic fatigue and increased complacency in complying with public health measures, increasing the unnecessary risk of exposure to Covid-19 during lower levels of lockdown.
The latest findings come from round 2 of the UJ / HSRC Covid-19 democracy survey, which was conducted between July 3 and September 8, during which time South Africa’s alert levels gradually relaxed. The second round data comprised 7,966 respondents. The results have been weighted to match Statistics South Africa data on race, education and age, and can be considered broadly representative of the general population.
The survey was conducted through an online survey using the popular free data application Moya Messenger, which has two million active users. Participants can respond to survey data for free in the app, as well as through a dataless link, which has been enabled by biNu, Moya’s parent company.
The key findings demonstrate:
Four in ten adults believe the threat of coronavirus is exaggerated
During the hard shutdown in April, about a third (31% to 33%) believed that the threat posed by the pandemic had been overblown. By September, this had increased to 41%.
One in three adults does not always wear a mask when leaving home
At the beginning of April, only 37% wore a mask when they went out. This rose to just over 70% in July, August and September. Among the other 30% of adults, 20% said they wear a mask “most of the time” and about 7% “sometimes.” Only 2% revealed that they never (or infrequently) wear a mask and 1% did not want to say so.
The fear of Covid-19 is decreasing
The survey showed that frequent feelings of fear remained at a consistently high level from April to July, ranging from 44% to 47%. However, it fell to 31% during August and early September. Although it was high nonetheless, it was a considerable decrease and was significant when considering parallel changes in risk perception measures.
Trust in the president is declining
While the findings showed that 65% of adults believed that President Cyril Ramaphosa was doing a good job in handling the coronavirus pandemic, this had decreased by 20 percentage points since the findings of the round 1 survey during blocking Level 5. This is important as there is strong evidence to suggest that trust in government has an important influence on overall compliance with public health measures.
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Carin Runciman, associate professor at the Center for Social Change, said: “The findings point to a worrisome increase in pandemic fatigue. The greater the number of people who do not comply with public health measures, such as wearing masks in public. , the greater the likelihood of a second wave of infections, as is currently occurring in Europe and the US. A strong and ongoing public health message is needed that the threat posed by the virus is not over, although we are now in a lower alert level. “
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These and other findings combined point to “pandemic fatigue,” the researchers said. It was important to take note of this, as any premature reduction in preventive behaviors posed a significant challenge to our ability to fight the virus.
Professor Salim Abdool Karim, chairman of the Covid-19 ministerial advisory group, similarly warned of complacency, mass gatherings, and the easing of travel restrictions as factors that are increasingly likely to make a second wave inevitable in the country.
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