Global: Concern around catching COVID-19

While the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has allowed many countries to start returning to a semblance of normality, the pandemic is ongoing – and fears about catching the virus remain a concern for much of the global public.

YouGov Profiles collects rolling data about whether people are concerned about the prospect of contracting coronavirus. Looking just at the 30 days leading up to 19 September 2021 reveals that in six countries across a range of international regions, a significant chunk of the public are still worried about personally catching COVID-19. In Singapore, particularly, a comfortable majority of people fear they will become seriously unwell or die from coronavirus (60%) – with just under two in five not worried (36%). This almost certainly has something to do with rising cases in the city-state: on Saturday 18, cases of the virus breached the 1,000 mark for the first time since April 2020.

In other nations, concerns are less pronounced – btu still significant. In Australia (43% vs. 52%), Britain (42% vs. 45%) and the US (39% vs. 46%), the unworried outnumber the worried – but those who fear catching COVID-19 still amount to two in five. In the UAE, the public are evenly split (42% vs. 42%), while in Germany nearly twice as many are not very or not at all worried about contracting coronavirus (60%).

When it comes to their friends and family, however, the global public are more anxious. Two-thirds of Singaporeans are afraid that their loved ones will become seriously unwell or die compared to three in ten who aren’t (65% vs. 29%), and comfortably over half of Germans feel the same, next to two in five who are unworried (56% vs. 37%). It’s a similar situation in the UAE (51% vs. 33%), Australia (48% vs. 37%), and the US (46% vs. 38%). Only in Britain are the proportion of worried and unworried close (50% vs. 46%).

In every country featured in this study, people are more concerned for their friends and family than themselves (Singapore: 65% worried about friends/family catching COVID vs. 60% worried about catching it personally; Australia 48% vs. 43%; Britain 50% vs. 42%; UAE 51% vs. 42%; Germany 56% vs. 33%; US 46% vs. 39%).

Methodology

YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data is nationally representative and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.

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