9 out of 10 in Kingdom believe virus will change lives for ever
98 percent taking preventive measures, new YouGov tracker data suggests
More than 9 in 10 people in Saudi Arabia believe the coronavirus pandemic will permanently change the way they live and interact with each other, the latest results from a global tracker survey suggest.
The number of people who fear contracting COVID-19 has increased from 64 percent to 75 percent in the past two months, and almost everyone — 98 percent — said they had changed their daily behavior and taken preventive measures against the virus.
The most common precautions are avoiding crowded places, wearing a face mask, improved personal hygiene, and working from home.
The information was compiled by the online research company YouGov, which has been tracking attitudes and behavior related to the coronavirus using its global research panel of more than 8 million respondents. It has now released the eighth wave of its tracker data.
The results suggest that many people in Saudi Arabia and the UAE believe waiting for a vaccine before resuming normal activities may not be possible; 23 percent said they would feel comfortable visiting shopping malls even if no vaccine were available, as long as the virus was under control domestically and globally, and only 9 percent said they would need a vaccine to be ready before being comfortable visiting malls. Twenty percent of Saudi and UAE respondents said they would feel comfortable visiting restaurants, cinemas, malls and hotels if a medicine to treat the coronavirus were made widely available.
As the battle continued to curb the spread of the virus, Saudi Arabia reported 1,704 new cases on Saturday, raising the total to 37,136. The death toll rose by 10 to 239. Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 4 million people and killed nearly 280,000. Restrictions on movement in some areas of Madinah were relaxed on Saturday, to allow residents to leave their homes between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to introduce a 14-day quarantine period from early June for most people arriving from abroad to try to avoid a second peak of the pandemic. On arrival at ports and airports, travelers will have to provide an address at which they will self-isolate. Ireland has had similar measures in place since last month.
Britain has reported 31,587 deaths from the virus, the highest figure in Europe. On Sunday Johnson will make public Britain’s next steps in tackling the pandemic, after a review by ministers of lockdown measures that have shut down the economy and kept millions at home for nearly seven weeks.
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