MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/. The majority of Russians (60%) support the tough restrictive measures introduced by the Russian government to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center informs in a poll published on Tuesday.
According to the poll, a quarter of those polled (25%) support mild measures that alleviate the negative effect on the economy, but prolong the epidemic and increase the death toll. This figure is especially high among those aged 18-24 (34%). Meanwhile, 70% of respondents (mostly those over 60) stand for tough restrictive measures. At the same time, 16% of Russians could not provide a concrete response to the question on the restrictive measures.
When asked about the fears related to the spread of the novel coronavirus, nearly half of those surveyed (48%) said they are afraid of losing their job and source of income to the same extent as of someone in their family becoming infected; 33% said they are more worried about their family members becoming ill: among them, 41% of Russians aged 18-24 and 44% of those over 60. Concurrently, 16% of those polled said they are most afraid of losing their job. This opinion was mostly expressed by Russians aged 25-34 (22%).
Half of respondents (50%) think that the restrictive measures in their region (self-isolation, travel restrictions, closed shopping centers and cinemas) will be lifted in May. A quarter of Russians (25%) think that some of the measures will be lifted in June.
The poll was held by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center on April 23 among 1,600 Russian nationals over 18 years of age via a phone interview. The margin of error does not surpass 1.7% with the probability of 95%.
In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus — named COVID-19 by the WHO — have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 3,000,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 211,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 923,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.
To date, a total of 93,558 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 8,456 patients having recovered from the virus. Russia’s latest data indicates 867 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.