Trust in healthcare growing

The Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences has studied Belarusians’ attitude to the COVID-19 pandemic – and telephone survey results are ready   

Sociologists primarily investigated the level of citizens’ anxiety in conditions of the spread of coronavirus infection. Respondents were asked to rate their anxiety on a 5-point scale which included lack of anxiety and panic. “As our April survey demonstrated, people’s anxiety was on an average level at the beginning of the pandemic – though there were also Belarusians who experienced panic attacks. Over the year, the level has been changing to become low,” Maksim Kudrevich, a junior researcher at the Institute of Sociology, comments.

Experts also studied the level of trust in the Belarusian healthcare system and its ability to resist COVID-19. In the beginning of the pandemic, only half of all respondents expressed confidence in the domestic healthcare but later their number increased.

Another positive trend – registered by the National Academy of Sciences’ sociologists – concerns citizens’ expectations in relation to the pandemic situation development. According to the survey, Belarusians increasingly hope for improvement in the situation and think less that it might worsen. “In May 2020, only 40 percent of respondents demonstrated positive expectations but, in March 2021, their share rose to 56 percent. The level of negative expectations has also decreased,” Mr. Kudrevich explains, adding that people’s reaction to COVID-19 is becoming increasingly adequate, while rationalisation of a coronavirus infection threat leads to formation of adaptation to it.

The recent study also showed that – among the measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection – Belarusians mostly practice to wear masks, wash or sanitise hands. Moreover, 60 percent of respondents criticise those who fail to wear masks in public areas and observe social distancing. “This data enables us to conclude that wearing masks and social distancing are becoming a new norm and a full-fledged social practice in Belarusian society,” the expert notes.