Most say the Coronavirus is an on-going threat; only 1 in 5 see virus contained

A majority of people across eight large countries say the coronavirus poses a high or very high threat to the world and an additional one in three say the virus is a moderate threat to the world.

More than one in two people in Japan (66%), Australia (61%) and the United States (55%) are concerned about the threat of the outbreak on the world. Canada (42%) and Russia (42%), the United Kingdom (43%), and Germany (47%) have slightly lower levels of high or very high threat.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos survey conducted online from February 7 to 9, 2020 among 8,001 adults aged 16 (18) -74 in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

On average, only one in five people (19%) agree the coronavirus outbreak has been contained and will soon be over, while more than twice as many disagree (46%). People in the U.K. (55%), Canada (51%), Australia (50%), and Japan (49%) were most likely to disagree the outbreak has been contained. One in three Russian respondents believe the coronavirus outbreak has been contained (33%).

Added to that, more than four in five (86%) people across these eight countries say they have seen, heard, or read a great deal or fair amount about the outbreak.

Together, this data shows that most people are closely tracking the coronavirus outbreak and are also worried the health epidemic will continue to worsen before it gets better.

In response, there is widespread support for significant actions to control the virus. On average, four in five (85%) people support mandatory screening of those traveling from infected countries, and there is a similar level of strong support for mandatory quarantine of those who could have the infection. Two-thirds (66%) of people agree the government should ban travel to and from impacted countries, and that airlines in their country should be restricted from flying to China.