New Survey Shows 44% Of People in S’pore Sick & Tired Of Covid-19 Rules

How long did you expect the Covid-19 to last?

If you were to ask that question back when the Circuit Breaker happened, people would say, aiya, by June 2020 lah.

But it’s Aug 2020 and we’re still looking at a long, long time of Covid-19.

Image; Tenor

So, the next question is: how are people holding up?

Are they going crazy from the restrictions, no matter how relaxed it has become, or have they come to accept it as the new norm?

According to a new survey done by the Sunday Times, it seems that the answer is half and half.

New Survey Shows 44% Of People in S’pore Sick & Tired Of Covid-19 Rules

On 16 Aug 2020, Straits Times did an article on a new survey done by The Sunday Times.

The aim of the survey? To find out how people in Singapore are handling Covid-19 measures.

Here are the findings of the survey:

  • 70% of respondents say the Covid-19 outbreak lasted longer than expected
  • 44% of the respondents are tired of the various health measures, with 27% of them saying wearing a mask is the most troublesome factor
  • 20% found SafeEntry a “nuisance”
  • 14% are very unhappy about the limit of 5 in social gathering and groups
  • 40% thought the rules were strict but reasonable while 5% thought they were “overkill”
  • Most respondents aren’t happy with the rules but accepted that they are necessary.

As for following the rules:

  • 76% says they wear masks properly, with 20% claiming to do it even without authorities around
  • 43% says they always compiled with safe-distancing rules
  • Another 43% says they obey the safe-distancing with “occasional lapses”
  • 10% say they only obey safe-distancing rules from “time-to-time”

The survey was conducted on 1,000 people and the respondents are above 16 years old.

Other responses also include people being unhappy about not being able to travel overseas, having events cancelled and limited entry to public venues.

Virus Fatigue

An expert that ST spoke to says these results are expected, and that people in Singapore are experiencing “virus fatigue”.

As these measures are assumed to be necessary for a long time, experts in Singapore are urging the authorities to address the issue.

One way they can do so, Professor Teo Yik Ying said, is for the authorities to continue telling people in Singapore why the measure has to be implemented.

For example, the mask-wearing measure has been proven to cut down Covid-19 transmission by a lot.

What do you think? Do you have ‘virus fatigue’ too? If you do, how do you deal with it?

One writer in the office suggests that he dealt with it by reminding himself of how it was like during the Circuit Breaker, and how much better we’re having it now.

This lets him get through the measures and follow them in hopes for more easing of restrictions.