Concerns regarding coronavirus have been declining slightly, according to a November survey by the Ipsos agency, however, more than half of people still see the virus as a threat to employment and fear that it will affect their financial situation for a long time. Most respondents are concerned about price increases.
Currently, 66 percent of the population reported concerns about coronavirus, which is slightly lower than previous surveys. Only a tenth of the respondents said that they did not feel threatened by the coronavirus in the long run.
“The feeling of personal danger is higher among people who know someone who has suffered from COVID-19 personally,” said Jakub Malý, director of the Ipsos agency. The research showed that 68 percent of Czechs know someone who has been infected with coronavirus. In August, it was almost four times less.
“Unfortunately, it is clear that people comply less with anti-epidemic measures than they were used to do in the spring,” added Jakub Malý.
More than half of Czechs are worried about the effects of coronavirus on employment or livelihoods. That’s six percentage points less than a month ago. Young people aged 18 to 29 are more likely to be afraid of the future at the beginning of their working careers.
However, people in the older productive age, from 40 to 49 years of age, as well as people with lower education, are also concerned.
A quarter of economically active Czechs fear that the companies where they work will have to lay off employees as a result of the crisis.
As in spring and summer, fears of price increases persist, with 86 percent of respondents reporting them. Fifty-seven percent of respondents had to lower living standards due to an unpredictable situation that arose, and financial reserves have already been depleted by 44 percent for respondents.
All these concerns may also be reflected in consumer behavior, as six out of 10 Czechs stated that they were considering carefully whether to make a larger expenditure.
The agency carried out the research from Nov. 24 to Nov. 30 with a total of 1,012 respondents participating.
Title image: Face masks and gifts are on display at store in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020. A sign of normalcy has returned to the Czech Republic ahead of the Christmas period after the government eased some of its most restrictive measures imposed to contain the recent massive surge of coronavirus infections. On Thursday all stores, shopping malls, restaurants, bars and hotels were allowed to reopen. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
