While in September, the Czechs were the most pessimistic about the development of the coronavirus situation in the Czech Republic, in November, their outlook for the future was the most optimistic so far. According to a survey by the Public Opinion Research Centre (CVVM), 53 percent of people expected the spread of the coronavirus to decline in November, up from 11 percent in September.
About a quarter of respondents expected the current situation to stay the same, and less than a fifth feared further deterioration.
As to how the epidemiological situation may develop in Europe and around the world, the Czech public was less optimistic in its estimates. However, the proportion of those who expect the situation to improve in Europe outweighs the number of those who fear further deterioration. In particular, 37 percent of the public expects the situation in Europe to improve, while in the world, this figure is 30 percent.
“The current assessment of further developments is thus closest to the one in June 2020,” said the authors of the survey.
In the first half of November, more than three-quarters of Czechs were interested in news about the spread of coronavirus. This percentage has not changed significantly since the first half of June.
The authors of the survey were also interested to see if respondents had been tested for COVID-19 and, if so, how many times. The number of those not tested makes up about 75 percent of the population, while 17 percent reported being tested once, and the remaining 9 percent were tested more than once.
Approximately one-seventh of the respondents further stated that they found themselves in compulsory quarantine, ordered by a doctor or public health officer, or were in mandatory quarantine due to a trip abroad. A comparable proportion of respondents, about 15 percent, went into voluntary isolation due to contact with an infected person.
As a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus, 91 percent of respondents stated they wear face masks. Increased hygiene, such as hand washing and household disinfection, was also a widespread measure, as almost nine-tenths of the Czech public adopted such habits. Approximately three-quarters of Czechs also restricted meetings with other people, and the same proportion limited travel on public transportation. Furthermore, almost 75 percent of people tried to strengthen their immune systems, and more than two-thirds limited shopping in stores that were allowed to be open.
Title image: People leave a store in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020. A sign of normalcy has returned to the Czech Republic ahead of the Christmas season 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)
