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Publication - Research and analysis

Public attitudes to Coronavirus – June and early July summary

Published
5 August 2020
Directorate
Constitution Directorate
Part of
Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland
ISBN
9781839609503

This report includes some high level findings from recent polling work on public attitudes to the coronavirus pandemic in Scotland. Reports covering earlier survey work were published on 8 May and 12 June 2020.

This document is part of a collection

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1. Impact of Coronavirus

Threat perception

Respondents were asked what level of threat they thought Coronavirus posed to a range of dimensions of life. As shown in Figure 1, the greatest threat was perceived to be to ‘the world’, followed by ‘your country’, ‘your community’ and ‘you personally’. The perceived threat to ‘your country’ has fallen since the end of May.

Figure 1: Proportion who consider there to be a very high/high threat from Coronavirus
Figure 1: Proportion who consider there to be a very high/high threat from Coronavirus

Source: Ipsos MORI, Scotland data. Base (n=500).

Financial impact

Respondents were asked to what extent they agreed or disagreed with a statement about the financial impact of Coronavirus, and the perceived level of threat to their job or business. As shown in Figure 2, the majority agreed that there will be a financial impact on them and their family, and this has remained stable since the end of May. There has however been a decrease since the end of April when 70% agreed there would be a financial impact.[1] Two-fifths of those in employment perceived a threat to their job or business and this has remained relatively stable since the end of May.

Figure 2: Proportion who agreed/agreed strongly or answered high/very high to the statements shown
Figure 2: Proportion who agreed/agreed strongly or answered high/very high to the statements shown

Source: Ipsos MORI, Scotland data. Base: all respondents (n=500), those in employment (n=287-323)

Respondents were also asked how concerned they were about the impact of Coronavirus on their household finances. As shown in Figure 3, throughout June and into July, between a fifth and a quarter of respondents were ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ concerned about being able to pay their bills, that they will have a job, and that they will be able to provide for their household. These proportions have remained relatively stable since the end of May.

Figure 3: Proportion of respondents who were very/extremely concerned with the statements shown
Figure 3: Proportion of respondents who were very/extremely concerned with the statements shown

Source: Ipsos MORI, Scotland data. Base (n=500).

Health impacts

To understand the perceived health risk of Coronavirus, respondents were asked how serious they thought catching the virus would be for their health. As shown in Figure 4, the proportion who considered it would affect their health ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ seriously has remained stable, whilst the proportion who thought it ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ likely that someone close to them will be infected has decreased since early June.

Figure 4: Proportion who answered extremely/very serious risk or very/somewhat likely to the statements shown
Figure 4: Proportion who answered extremely/very serious risk or very/somewhat likely to the statements shown

Source: Ipsos MORI, Scotland data. Base (n=500)

To understand the potential impact on non-COVID related health issues, respondents were asked if they would avoid going to a hospital or GP practice if they had a medical concern unrelated to Coronavirus. As shown in Figure 5, just under a third agreed that they would avoid going to a hospital or GP practice. This has remained stable since the beginning of June.

Figure 5: Proportions who agreed/disagreed that ‘I would avoid going to a hospital or GP practice at the moment even if I had an immediate medical concern (not related to Coronavirus)’
Figure 5: Proportions who agreed/disagreed that ‘I would avoid going to a hospital or GP practice at the moment even if I had an immediate medical concern (not related to Coronavirus)’

Source: YouGov weekly Scotland survey. Base (n=1003-1048)

Contact

Email: covid-19.behaviours@gov.scot

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