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Reaction to Covid-19

Mar 31, 2020

Q. Which of the following is closer to your personal views of the Covid-19 outbreak?

	29/03	22/03
There has been an over-reaction to the threat of Covid-19	18%	33%
The response to the threat of Covid-19 is about right	39%	39%
The threat of Covid-19 has been under-estimated	43%	28%
Base (n)	1,086	1,034

		Gender			Age Group
	Total	Male	Female	18-34		35-54	55+
There has been an over-reaction to the threat of Covid-19	18%	20%	17%	24%		19%	12%
The response to the threat of Covid-19 is about right	39%	42%	36%	39%		39%	39%
The threat of Covid-19 has been under-estimated	43%	39%	47%	37%		42%	49%
Base (n)	1,086	539	547	341		362	383

Now 43% of participants believe the threat of Covid-19 has been under-estimated compared to 28% who said the same last week.
Women (47%) and participants over 55 years old (49%) are more likely say the treat has been under-estimated than men (39%) and 18-34 year olds (37%).

Mar 24, 2020

Q. Which of the following is closer to your personal views of the Covid-19 outbreak?

		Gender			Age Group			Location
	Total	Male	Female	18-34		35-54	55+	Capital	Non-Capital
There has been an over-reaction to the threat of Covid-19	33%	36%	30%	39%		37%	23%	34%	30%
The response to the threat of Covid-19 is about right	39%	40%	39%	40%		33%	44%	39%	39%
The threat of Covid-19 has been under-estimated	28%	24%	32%	21%		30%	33%	27%	31%
Base (n)	1,096	519	515	342		327	365	703	331

A third of people believe there has been an over-reaction to the threat of Covid-19. Men (36%) and those aged 18-34 (39%) are more likely to think there has been an over-reaction than women (30%) and those aged 55+ (23%).
39% think the reaction has been proportionate to the threat and 28% believe the threat has been under-estimated.
Those who think there has been an over-reaction are less concerned about the threat of Covid-19 (69% very/somewhat concerned, compared to 92% who think the threat has been under-estimated) and think they are less likely to contract the virus (38% to 49% very/somewhat likely to catch Covid-19).

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