The share of Russians who believe that the authorities will manage to protect public health amid the coronavirus pandemic increased from 61 to 67 percent through March, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) revealed in a poll on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd April, 2020) The share of Russians who believe that the authorities will manage to protect public health amid the coronavirus pandemic increased from 61 to 67 percent through March, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) revealed in a poll on Thursday.
Respondents were asked whether the Russian authorities would manage to protect public health amid the pandemic.
"If in the first wave of March 16, 61 percent believed that they would likely manage to do that and 32 percent believed they would rather not, a week later we see that the share of those who believe in the effectiveness of measures has increased to 67 percent and the proportion of those who are skeptical dipped to 28 percent," VTsIOM head Valery Fedorov said.
According to Fedorov, younger respondents demonstrated a lower level of trust toward the authorities' actions.
During the March 16 poll, only half of the respondents among the 18-24 age group believed that the authorities would be able to protect public health. In a poll a week later, this figure rose to 59 percent. The level of confidence in the effectiveness of the measures among the 25-34 age group, to the contrary, has dropped from 57 percent to 56 percent through March.
Among those aged 60 and over, the proportion of those believing that the government would effectively tackle the threat jumped from 72 to 79 percent.
Nearly two-thirds of the respondents still admitted that they do feel anxious about the epidemic, according to Fedorov.
The polls were conducted via telephone on March 16 and from March 24-25 among Russians aged 18 and above. The margin of error does not exceed 2.5 percent.
Earlier in the day, Russia updated its COVID-19 case count from 2,777 to 3,548. The death toll now stands at 30. The week of March 30 is non-working in the country, with people recommended to self-isolate.
