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Truth in statements about Covid-19 spread

Mar 31, 2020

Q. How confident are you that the following statements about Covid-19 are true?

	NET: True	NET: Not true	Definitely true	Probably true	Probably not true	Definitely not true	Unsure
Even if children and young people tend to be less affected by Covid-19, they can still catch it and pass it on to others	88%	8%	62%	26%	6%	2%	4%
It’s possible for people to have the virus and be contagious even if they don’t feel sick in any way	88%	8%	61%	26%	6%	3%	4%
You can still catch Covid-19 even if you have a face mask	82%	12%	50%	32%	9%	3%	6%
People are buying up and hoarding large amounts of medicines and toilet paper so they can sell them for inflated profits	74%	20%	38%	36%	16%	5%	5%
Busloads of outsiders have been observed coming to small-town supermarkets and buying up most of their stock in response to the Covid-19 outbreak	73%	17%	39%	33%	13%	4%	10%
It’s no more dangerous than a typical winter flu	31%	61%	16%	15%	17%	44%	8%

More than four in five participants believe the three statements about the spread of Covid-19 to be true.

NET: True		Gender			Age Group
NET: True	Total	Male	Female	18-34		35-54	55+
Even if children and young people tend to be less affected by Covid-19, they can still catch it and pass it on to others	88%	85%	92%	81%		88%	95%
You can still catch Covid-19 even if you have a face mask	82%	80%	85%	77%		81%	88%
Busloads of outsiders have been observed coming to small-town supermarkets and buying up most of their stock in response to the Covid-19 outbreak	73%	70%	75%	65%		70%	81%
People are buying up and hoarding large amounts of medicines and toilet paper so they can sell them for inflated profits	74%	71%	77%	69%		70%	82%
It’s no more dangerous than a typical winter flu	31%	34%	28%	38%		30%	26%
It’s possible for people to have the virus and be contagious even if they don’t feel sick in any way	88%	84%	91%	82%		88%	92%
Base (n)	1,086	539	547	341		362	383

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

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Essential Report

Labor

47%

Coalition

45%