This file photo, taken Feb. 13, 2021, shows an almost empty street of Seoul’s shopping district of Myeongdong amid the pandemic. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 9 (Korea Bizwire) — In South Korea, the proportion of people who think society and individual life faced a crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic has declined compared to six months ago, a survey showed Monday.
A research team from Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Public Health unveiled the results of surveys conducted in April 2020 and in February 2021 of 1,084 adults over 18 years of age.
The share of those who thought Korean society was in a state of crisis due to the coronavirus stood at 66.3 percent in the February 2021 survey, down 17.4 percentage points from the 83.7 percent recorded in the April 2020 survey.
The share of those who thought that their individual life was in a state of crisis as a result of the pandemic also fell, with a drop of 10.8 percentage points from 81.7 percent to 70.9 percent.
The percentage of those who thought that COVID-19 could be controlled rose slightly to 49.6 percent from 44.1 percent.
At 54 percent, a majority of the respondents still thought that the pandemic was unlikely to end by the end of the year, while the share of those who replied otherwise remained low at 42.3 percent.
In response to a question asking about the balance between the prevention of the COVID-19 spread and economic recovery, 66.3 percent of the respondents said the emphasis should be placed on preventing the pandemic, while 29.2 percent said economic recovery should be given priority.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
