Poll finds increasing anxiety about coronavirus
Ljubljana, 30 March - A poll commissioned by the newspapers Dnevnik and Večer suggests that Slovenians are getting increasingly anxious about the coronavirus pandemic with almost 60% worried they will catch the virus.
Ljubljana
Ljubljana streets abandoned amid coronavirus lockdown.
Photo: Jure Makovec/STA
File photo
As many as 86.5% of those questioned in the Vox Populi poll said they were concerned about the spread of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, against 13.3% who were not worried.
The proportion of those concerned increased considerably compared with the situation two weeks ago when the same poll found nearly seven out of ten did not feel threatened by the novel virus.
Asked whether they were worried about getting infected, 56.8% of those questioned answered in the affirmative, against 35.3% who answered in the negative.
Still, a majority (50.5%) have not yet changed their holiday plans because of the pandemic, while 41.8% have, writes Dnevnik in its Monday edition.
Just over 70% deem the government measures aimed at curbing the epidemic proportionate and as many as 86.4% said they fully complied with the measures, with a further 13.2% partly complying.
Based on a cross-examination of data, the paper finds that protective measures are being observed to a smaller extent by male respondents up to the age of 30.
The poll also suggests a radical change in people's lifestyles; 67% reported going to a grocery shop occasionally, and 72% reported not visiting their friends or relatives, while a quarter said they did.
However, 43.4% said that they had taken a walk out in nature quite often in the past week and a further 42.8% did that occasionally.
Six out of ten respondents also reported following news programmes on TV or radio more than usual, and more than half (55.6%) browsing the net more often than they did before the pandemic.
The survey was conducted online among 1,300 people on 25 and 26 March by Ninamedia.