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Changing behaviour due to Covid-19

Mar 24, 2020

Q. Have you changed your behaviour in any of the following ways since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak?

		Gender			Age Group			Location
	Total	Male	Female	18-34		35-54	55+	Capital	Non-Capital
Increased personal hygiene measures (e.g. hand washing)	72%	70%	74%	72%		67%	76%	73%	70%
Limited attending social spaces, shops, restaurants or group events	60%	56%	63%	60%		58%	61%	61%	56%
Stopped physical greetings (e.g. shaking hands, kissing, hugging)	60%	57%	63%	57%		57%	65%	60%	60%
Bought additional groceries to stock-up	33%	32%	35%	38%		36%	27%	37%	25%
Reduced use of cash to pay for purchases	23%	20%	25%	30%		23%	17%	24%	19%
Changed working patterns (e.g. changed hours, or working from home)	20%	24%	17%	33%		24%	6%	23%	14%
None of these	12%	13%	11%	8%		15%	13%	10%	16%
Base (n)	1,034	519	515	342		327	365	703	331

Since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, a majority of people have increased their personal hygiene (72%), limited their social interactions (60%) and reduced physical greetings (60%). A third of people say they have stocked up on groceries (33%).
Younger people aged 18-34 were more likely to have changed their working patterns (33%) and reduced using cash for payments (30%)
Just 12% of people say they have not changed their behaviour as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.

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Essential Report

Labor

51.5%-0.5

Coalition

48.5%+0.5