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Coronavirus pandemic

Poll reveals more than half of Russians are afraid of contracting COVID-19

According to the results of the survey, in August, seven percent of those polled said they were "very afraid" of catching COVID-19 or of their loved ones encountering the disease

MOSCOW, September 12. /TASS/. Over half of Russians are experiencing fear of contracting the coronavirus, the number of those afraid has increased significantly since July 2022, according to the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center.

"In August polls, more than half of Russians (55%) said they were afraid to some extent of catching COVID-19 or that their loved ones would fall ill," the pollsters said. According to the research center, this figure has increased since July of this year by 8%.

The maximum proportion of those who fear was recorded last fall, in October-November 2021 (65% and 64% respectively). It then declined to a low of 44% in March 2022 (down 14% from February’s stats). "Such a clear decrease in the index this spring can be explained both by the change in the agenda, and by the emergence of other issues of concern, and by the general stabilization of the epidemiological situation after the peak of the disease," the pollsters noted.

According to the results of the survey, in August, seven percent of those polled said they were "very afraid" of catching COVID-19 or of their loved ones encountering the disease. From March to July, only 5% of Russians expressed strong fears, this is the minimum for the entire period of polls. In February, the figure was 10%.

Simultaneously with the easing of fears in the spring and summer, the proportion of Russians confident that they and their loved ones would not get sick with COVID-19 grew. The record high was in June (26%) expressed such confidence. In August, the figure dropped to 20%, with one in five responding this way. Fourteen percent did not think about this question, half as many said that either they or their relatives had already been infected.

The VTsIOM-Sputnik All-Russian poll was conducted via telephone interview from March 2021 to August 2022. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18 years and older participated in the poll. The data was evaluated by socio-demographic parameters and the marginal error does not exceed 2.5% with a probability of 95%.

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