in-cyprus 12 April 2020 -Josephine Koumettou
84% of Cypriots say government responded ‘the proper way’ to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new telephone poll conducted by Pulse Market Research and PR company Gnora and published on Sunday by Phileleftheros, while only a 52% approve of their employer’s handling of the situation.
The poll’s conclusions were extracted from a sample of 605 people across the island aged 18 and above using the stratified random sampling method, and the data was collected from April 3 to April 8.
The poll also found that an overwhelming majority of the population agrees with individual measures adopted as follows:
- Cancelling of athletic and entertainment events – 98% agree
- Closing schools and educational establishments – 98% agree
- Ban of entry from land and sea to irregular immigration – 98% agree
- 14-day quarantine in accommodation premises for passengers arriving from abroad – 97% agree
- Closing checkpoints except for humanitarian reasons – 96% agree
- Ban on gatherings over 10 people – 96% agree
- Ban on unnecessary movements – 96% agree
- Ban on flights except for cargo – 94% agree
- Ban on going to places of worship, like churches – 91% agree
- Shutting down public areas like parks, outdoor exercise grounds, squares etc – 91% agree
- Suspending operations of specific businesses – 87% agree
In addition, 64% of participants said it was very easy or easy (21% and 44% respectively) to adapt to Covid-19 measures and a 36% said it was hard or very hard (23% and 12% respectively).
79% fear that they or a member of their family might contract the virus while 95% believe they know what actions to take if they present coronavirus symptoms.
Asked what habits they have adopted in the last week, 98% said they reduced their social contacts, 97% said that they stepped up their personal hygiene (washing hands more frequently and using antiseptics), 96% avoided visiting public spaces, 92% maintained the 2 metre social distancing, 79% used gloves, 61% used a face mask, and 28% worked from home.
As regards news on coronavirus, 67% said they get their news from TV, 38% from the internet via local news sites, 34% via international news sites, 30% from the radio, 27% from friends and relatives, 22% from social media and 15% from the printed press (newspapers, magazines).
Asked to what extent they follow the news, 81% said to a great extent or a great enough extent (47% and 34% respectively) and 19% said not so much or not at all (15% and 4% respectively).
On their use of technology in the last week, 89% said they used it for remote work, remote education and communication with friends (24%, 19% and 86% respectively).
On financial aspects, 19% said their job has been entirely suspended, 15% partly suspended, 3% have been fired, 27% continue working normally and 35% said they do not work.
54% of participants said that the overall financial situation of their household has not yet been affected by the consequences of the pandemic and 45% said they are already experiencing the financial effects.
A 70% majority believe that the spread of the virus is under control and 24% believe otherwise.
Asked to estimate the development of the situation in the coming month, 49% believe that the worst is behind us and the situation will begin to improve, 30% believe the situation will largely remain the same as it is now and 16% believe that the worst is yet to come.
Asked how long they believe it will take for their life to return to normal without the current measures in place, 63% said by the summer, 14% said by the end of the year, 11% said by the end of April, 5% said more than a year, 4% said they don’t know and 3% said a year.
