This is shown by the current round of the “Corona Mood Barometer” carried out by the Gallup Institute. Almost half of those surveyed stated that they considered the danger posed by the corona virus to be exaggerated.
Even before the first lockdown in March 2020, the Gallup Institute began collecting a regular picture of the population’s mood about the corona crisis. At that time, the majority of people in Austria were still quite relaxed: 53 percent agreed with the statement “that the danger posed by the corona virus is being exaggerated”. At the end of March/beginning of April – with the peak of the first corona wave – this value shrank to just 20 percent. Conversely, up to three quarters of people at the time said they were afraid of contagion for themselves or a family member. And up to 95 percent said they were willing to temporarily give up some civil liberties in order to prevent the virus from spreading.
Since then, both the fear of infection and the willingness to impose restrictions have decreased significantly. In the most recent wave of surveys in February, 45 percent stated that they considered the risk to be exaggerated. Conversely, 46 percent expressed fear of infection. For the first time in almost two years, both groups were roughly balanced. Until then, the fear of infection had always prevailed.
Readiness for restrictions has fallen sharply
Andrea Fronaschütz from the Gallup Institute attributes the development to APA to a combination of the high number of infections, but at the same time the situation in the hospitals that was not communicated as dramatic. What is striking for her is how quickly the basic trust in politics, which was high at the beginning of the pandemic, was lost again: while at the end of March 2020 over 90 percent of the people in Austria trusted the government’s pandemic management, in November 2021 it was only 23 percent. Recently, trust has increased again. In February, 37 percent stated “that the Austrian government is dealing with the corona virus correctly”. Last October it was still 42 percent.
However, the willingness to temporarily forego civil liberties in order to contain the pandemic is at an all-time low. Only 67 percent want to accept restrictions. For comparison: in March 2020 it was almost 95 percent. Fronaschütz attributes the fact that two thirds of those surveyed are still willing to make restrictions to the “learning curve” in the course of the pandemic: “We have learned that certain measures have an effect – such as wearing a mask and keeping your distance.”
Source: Nachrichten
