A majority of people see the Omicron variant of Covid-19 as worrying as it spreads very quickly, putting the elderly and people with underlying diseases at risk, according to the result of a survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll.
The poll was conducted by telephone interviews with 1,320 people on March 7-9 to compile their opinions on the Omicron variant of Covid-19 which is spreading quickly in the country and elsewhere.
Asked whether they were worried by the current spread of Covid-19, 56.36% said "yes" - 34.54% fairly worried and 21.82% very worried, saying the Omicron variant put the elderly and people with underlying diseases at high risk.
On the other side, 22.20% were not worried at all as they did not live in high-risk areas and had been vaccinated against Covid-19, while 21.44% said they were not particularly worried as they had no need to travel to high-risk areas and had been vaccinated.
Asked why Covid-19 is spreading very quickly in Thailand, with each respondent allowed to give more than one answer:
- 52.95% said people are not careful enough, believing Omicron is a variant with less severity;
- 46.29% said Omicron is highly contagious;
- 15.76% said the epidemic is worldwide and its spread in Thailand is inevitable;
- 13.41% said it is mismanagement on the part of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration;
- 11.41% blamed it on more people being tested for Covid-19;
- 9.70% said illegal migrants had continued to arrive;
- 9.62% said some people refused to be vaccinated or to get fully vaccinated; and
- 0.83% had no answers/were not interested.
Asked whether they were satisfied with the government's handling of the Covid-19 situation from Jan 1 to March 6 this year, 32.95% said they were fairly satisfied; 27.73% not very satisfied; 21.21% completely unsatisfied; 15.53% very satisfied; and 2.58% had no answer/were not interested.
Asked how often they got tested for Covid-19, 41.14% said once in a while; 26.82% once a week; 23.79% never; 5.83% every three days; 1.44% every day; and 0.98% every other day.