One in three Romanians have doubts about the coronavirus, 12pc think the virus is made up, survey says

Around 55pc of the Romanians believe in the existence of coronavirus, 33pc have doubts about it and 12pc think it’s all made up, reads a study conducted by Novel Research and commissioned by Provident Financial Romania during July 15-22.

The perceptions differ depending the city of residence. So, less over 7pc of the Romanians living in the urban areas think the virus is an invention, while the percentage is double in the countryside (16pc).

Asked about in which information sources they trust the most, most of the respondents say they trust the talks with the family and friends (56.5%), talks with the co-workers (37.9%) and the Government press releases (36.2%). Romanians voiced mistrust in the celebrities , vlgoggers and bloggers (43.5%), social media (32.5%) and TV (28.5%).

Regardless of their perception on the novel coronavirus, all respondents admitted the situation prompted by COVID-19 had an impact over their lives.

Almost 60% of the Romanians say the virus had mostly impacted their vacation and travel plans. Over 55% said the virus had had a negative impact on their social life. Others said the impact had been felt on their personal finances or family, but also on their personal safety.

On the other hand, the COVID-19 crisis has not changed the evolution of the personal or professional development or of the family or couple life.

The study also reveals that Romanians are concerned about how things will evolve in the next year. What they fear the most are: the rapid increase of the infections (52.9%), returning to the state of emergency (42.7%) and exceeding the maximum capacity of hospitals (39.9%).

Less than a quarter think they will get infected, while under 20% fear they might lose their job.