South Africans and the threat of SARS-CoV-2

At this stage, most people around the world undoubtedly know that Covid-19 poses a threat to life as we know it, and this is not any different in South Africa. In an online study of 1,000 South African adults, conducted from 20 to 22 April 2020, 92% agreed that they see the threat of coronavirus to the world as “very high” or “high”. This result is similar to that of the previous month’s results (March 2020), when 94% of online South Africans said that the virus was a “very high” or “high” threat to the world.

Questions were asked on how citizens experienced the threat posed to South Africa, their local communities, their families and themselves:

How high is the level of threat posed by the coronavirus to...	South Africa		Your local community		Your family		You personally
	Mar’20 %	Apr’20 %	Mar’20 %	Apr’20 %	Mar’20 %	Apr’20 %	Mar’20 %	Apr’20 %
Very high threat/High threat	90	87	68	68	53	57	48	53
Moderate threat	9	10	25	20	29	22	30	23
Low/Very low threat	1	2	7	10	17	19	20	22
Don’t know	*	1	*	2	1	2	2	2

 

The findings are consistent over the two iterations of the study - in March and in April 2020 - but it is interesting to see that citizens’ concern about the possibility of their families and themselves getting infected is increasing – currently 57% of online South Africans say that the virus poses a threat to their families (compared to 53% in March), and 53% is concerned about themselves being infected (compared to 48% in March).

Who expresses the strongest views of coronavirus as a threat?

To explore the experience of online South Africans as an increasing threat to us personally, we will look at the views of men and women separately, and at opinions in different provinces.

How high is the level of threat posed by the coronavirus to…	You personally	Females’ opinion	Males’ opinion
	Apr’20%
Very high threat/High threat	53	50	57
Moderate threat	23	28	17
Low/Very low threat	22	21	24
Don’t know	2	1	2

 

Men perceive coronavirus to be a larger threat to them personally than women do, however, almost three in every ten (28%) women say it poses a moderate threat, compared to only 17% of men.  It thus seems as if women are slightly more cautious in expressing their views about the threat posed by the virus.

In seven of the nine provinces, online South Africans perceive the threat of coronavirus to them personally to have increased in the month since the survey was undertaken in March 2020.  In Gauteng, the perception did not change much, but in the Eastern Cape the perception of coronavirus as a personal threat decreased with ten percentage points.

It is possible that people in the Eastern Cape are feeling that they are slightly safer than those in the neighbouring provinces, as KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape are experiencing some of the highest infection rates in South Africa. 

How high is the level of threat posed by coronavirus to you personally?	Very high threat/ high threat March 2020 %	Very high threat/ high threat April 2020 %
KwaZulu-Natal	48	65
Mpumalanga	47	64
Northern Cape	44	58
Free State	45	54
Gauteng	53	51
Limpopo	45	51
North West	40	49
Western Cape	43	48
Eastern Cape	54	44

The figures are ranked according to the results per province in April 2020

How serious will the infection be?

Respondents were asked to indicate that, if they were infected by the novel coronavirus, how seriously they think their health would be affected. The table below shows that more than eight in every ten (82%) online South Africans think that infection with this virus would affect their health seriously (“extremely seriously”, “very seriously” or “somewhat seriously”). Less than one in every ten (8%) do not consider the virus to be serious at all, and a further 10% are not sure about how the virus will affect them.

If you were infected by coronavirus or Covid-19, how seriously do you think it would affect your health?	April 2020 %
Extremely seriously	29
Very seriously	24
Somewhat seriously	29
Not at all seriously	8
Don’t know	10

 

In the Western Cape, Gauteng and North West, slightly smaller proportions of citizens think that an infection with novel coronavirus will be a serious health issue for them - compared to other provinces – this might have to do with the perceived higher quality of healthcare facilities available (especially in Gauteng and the Western Cape).

	The coronavirus poses a very high or a high threat to me personally. April 2020 %	An infection with coronavirus/Covid-19 will affect my health extremely seriously, very seriously or somewhat seriously. April 2020 %
Limpopo	51	90
Mpumalanga	64	89
KwaZulu-Natal	65	86
Northern Cape	58	85
Free State	54	81
Eastern Cape	44	80
Western Cape	48	79
Gauteng	51	78
North West	49	71

The figures are ranked according to the results per province of the perceived seriousness of the influence of the virus on health 

Protective actions taken

Have you taken any personal actions to protect yourself from the novel coronavirus or Covid-19?

Online South Africans have certainly listened to (some of) the messages distributed on how to try and avoid infection...

• More than nine in ten are washing their hands more often
• More than eight in ten are practicing social distancing and are using hand sanitiser
• Disinfectants and face masks are used by more than six in every ten

But:

• Some are still stocking up on various items (although it does not look like the “panic buying” of the first few days after lockdown was declared).

 

It has been communicated repeatedly that the normal flu vaccine will not be effective against the novel coronavirus, but the 12% who got the flu vaccination, as per the table below, might have taken this with the view to the coming winter and not as a precautionary action.

Actions taken	April 2020 %
Washing hands more often	91
Practicing social distancing when going out	82
Using hand sanitiser throughout the day	81
Using more disinfectants	64
Wearing a face mask	63
Stocking up on food	50
Taking additional supplements like Vitamin C, Zinc etc.	47
Stocking up on day-to-day household products such as toilet paper	39
Stocking up on over the counter medicines	26
Stocking up on water	25
Getting a flu vaccination	12
Seeing your doctor for a general health check although you feel fine	10
None of these	1

 

The above are not the only precautionary measures one can take and many have changed their behaviour with the growing threat of Covid-19.  Respondents were asked what they started doing to protect themselves….

Have you started doing any of the following specifically to protect yourself from the coronavirus or Covid-19?	April 2020 %
Avoiding shaking hands	91
Avoiding close contact with others	87
Not attending church / mosque / shul or religious meetings	82
Cancelling plans to attend events or other large gatherings of people	77
Avoiding public toilets or bathrooms	75
Not going to work	67
Cancelling or postponing plans to take any vacation or leisure travel	63
Cancelling or postponing a trip within South Africa	63
Cancelling or postponing taking a trip by car	63
Cancelling or postponing any plans to travel by air	54
Visiting the South African Health Department’s website for the latest information and advice	40

 

It is probably safe to say that coronavirus made South Africans more aware of personal space but looking at these results it looks as if most online South Africans try to follow the recommendations from medical professionals and government communications and apply “social distancing”.

 

About the Study

• These are the results of an Ipsos South Africa survey conducted from 20 – 22 April 2020 on Ipsos South Africa’s Online platform, with a sample of 1,000 adults aged 18 - 65. Respondents are from all provinces and population groups. The study is representative of the almost two-thirds of South Africans who can access internet at home or on their mobile phones. Ipsos weighted and projected the results to this population.
• The previous study was conducted from 24 – 27 March 2020 with 1,008 respondents.
• Where results do not sum to 100 or the ‘difference’ appears to be +/-1 more/less than the actual, this may be due to rounding, multiple responses or the exclusion of don't know or not stated responses.
• The precision of Ipsos online polls is calculated using a credibility interval with a poll of 1,000 accurate to +/- 3.5 percentage points. For more information on the Ipsos use of credibility intervals, please visit the Ipsos website (www.ipsos.com).

 

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Mari Harris Director and Political Analyst, Ipsos South Africa Mobile: +27 (0)82 557 5058 [email protected]

Ezethu Mandlelize Service Line Manager: Public Affairs, Ipsos South Africa Mobile: +27 (0)74 617 8023 [email protected]

 

 

About Ipsos

• Ipsos is the world’s third largest market research company, present in 90 markets and employing more than 18,000 people.
• Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide the true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. We serve more than 5,000 clients across the world with 75 business solutions.
• Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is listed on Euronext Paris since July 1st, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120 and the Mid-60 index and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD).
• ISIN code FR0000073298, Reuters IPSOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS: FP www.ipsos.com