Coronavirus: We are scared
Poll shows most Kiwis don’t think authorities will be able to stop Covid-19, and just 47% think the Government is doing a good job
Are you confident or not confident that New Zealand’s border protection and quarantine arrangements will prevent large-scale outbreaks of the coronavirus in New Zealand?
Confident ........................... 37% Not confident .................... 47% Unsure ................................. 16%
Should the Government ban travellers from all countries where the coronavirus has caused deaths?
Yes ................................................. 55% No .................................................. 27% Unsure ........................................... 17%
Have you or do you plan to change any travel plans due to the coronavirus?
Yes ................................................. 36% No .................................................. 49% Unsure ........................................... 15%
Coronavirus is here and Kiwis are scared.
As the world’s leaders attempt to fight the virus’ spread and its walloping economic effect, New Zealanders aren’t confident that our Government can prevent a large-scale outbreak, and many are worried about catching it themselves.
These fears have led Kiwis to back much more drastic action, such as a travel ban on far more countries, with less than half believing the Government has done a good job of fighting the novel Covid-19 disease so far.
The Government confirmed a second case of Covid-19 yesterday. The virus has now killed thousands around the world, and seen sharemarkets tumble and central banks start to cut interest rates.
Kiwi views are shown in a poll of 1900 New Zealanders conducted by Utting Research on Sunday and Monday, and obtained by Stuff exclusively.
New Zealanders were particularly despairing of the country’s border controls and quarantine arrangements.
Just 37 per cent were confident that quarantine and border systems will prevent a large-scale outbreak, while 47 per cent were not confident.
A sizeable majority (55 per cent) want travel bans on all passengers from countries where the virus has caused death – which would mean a travel ban on Australia, the United States, France, Thailand, Italy, South Korea and Japan, alongside the existing bans on travel from Iran and China. Any such ban would devastate the tourism industry. According to visitor arrival statistics for December, over 6000 Australian residents arrive in New Zealand every day.
The poll showed that less than half (47 per cent) of Kiwis were satisfied with the
Government’s handling of the issue, while a third were dissatisfied (34 per cent) and 19 per cent were unsure.
Only four in 10 (39 per cent) thought New Zealand’s doctors were adequately trained to deal with the novel coronavirus, and a vast majority (85 per cent) thought it would hurt the economy.
Anxiety about the virus was strong, with 41 per cent of Kiwis worried about contracting the virus themselves, compared to 47 per cent who were unworried and 12 per cent unsure.
The poll was conducted by John Utting of Australian firm Utting Research for corporate clients with robocalls of 1900 people, with the results sampled to match New Zealand’s population.
The results were broadly similar to results in Australia where a similar poll was carried out by Utting, a highly respected market and political pollster. He told Stuff it seemed the public had not defaulted into trusting governments to solve the problem.
‘‘The punters just do not think we will be able to stop large-scale outbreaks,’’ Utting said. ‘‘There’s not a lot of confidence that the medical system will be able to come to grips with this. I don’t think they are negative on it and judge [governments] as failure but there is just not that default position where people think ‘The Government has this under control, everything is going to be OK.’’’
The poll also showed over a third of Kiwis (36 per cent) had either changed or planned to change travel plans due to the virus.
A spokesman for the prime minister said she was focused on the situation itself, not polling.
‘‘Our priority is New Zealanders’ health and our border and isolation measures have been some of the strongest and most effective in the world at keeping the virus under control so far,’’ the spokesman said.
‘‘We are also managing the economic impact on New Zealand. Overall, we’re starting from a good position because of our careful economic management: solid growth, low debt, low unemployment, and a surplus means we are well positioned to face any coming headwinds.’’
National leader Simon Bridges said a strong response to the virus from the Government was needed.
‘‘It’s early days but it requires a clear strong response from our government. National will support such an approach,’’ Bridges said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said yesterday the Government was reviewing border controls every 24 hours.
‘‘We’re all internationally sharing information to see how much more we need to know before we react,’’ Peters said. ‘‘All these people are slipping through all around the world. That’s obvious. But we are taking all the precautions we can to try and address this circumstance.’’
He is part of a special Cabinet subcommittee on the virus which met yesterday afternoon.