31 May 2020

Covid-19: Survey suggests Kiwis are being blasé

From Sunday Morning, 7:15 am on 31 May 2020

One third of New Zealanders are not observing social distancing rules, or only occasionally adhering to them, a recent survey found.

Glasses of rose wine seen during a friendly party of a celebration.

Photo: 123RF

The 10th weekly report by Research New Zealand on the impact the Covid-19 virus is having on New Zealanders' lives has just been released.

Research New Zealand managing partner Emanuel Kalafatelis told Sunday Morning the survey showed two thirds of New Zealanders were observing social distancing rules most or all of the time - while one third were not. 

Seventy-six percent of people were still concerned about catching the virus, down from about 80 percent over the last three weeks. 

"Even though our overall concern with catching the virus is falling away, the number who are very concerned seems to be quite stable at around the 20 percent mark, so there's a group of people out there, regardless of what's happening, who still feel there's a chance they might catch the virus and become seriously ill."

Sixty percent of people were concerned about losing their job.