Post by account_disabled on Feb 27, 2024 23:18:49 GMT -5
When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic in March 2020; To date, more than 118,000 cases have been identified in more than 110 countries around the world . To this day the disease has continued to spread. Although restrictions have been lifted in some countries, the UN has indicated that the health crisis is far from over . But then, who or who decides when the pandemic ends?
According to The Conversation portal , people around the world are asking the same question: when will it end? And although it seems like a simple question, historical analysis shows that "the end" of an illness is rarely experienced in unison by all those affected.
For some, the threat is quickly Changsha Mobile Number List over and a return to normalcy is eagerly awaited. But for others, the continuing threat of infection or reinfection, as well as the long-term health, economic and societal impacts of the disease, make official announcements of the end premature. This could include, for example, immunocompromised people , some of whom remain vulnerable to COVID despite being vaccinated.
the pandemic ends
When will the pandemic end?
Determining when a disease outbreak has ended is even difficult for global health agencies. For example, the Ebola outbreak that began in 2018 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was declared over by the WHO in 2020, but subsequently flared up again . This revival was again declared over in December 2021.
In England, the government recently decided to lift all remaining legal COVID restrictions. But does this push towards “ living with ” the virus mean England’s pandemic is over? And if not, who should decide when it is?
the pandemic ends
"Living" with the virus
In the 24 hours after the announcement of the end of COVID restrictions in England, The Conversation portal conducted a survey to explore whether people in England believed the pandemic was over. It also explored whether they believed it was legitimate to end all COVID restrictions at this time, and who they believed should be able to decide when the pandemic ends.
Of the few more than 1,300 people surveyed; 500 participants were representative of the population through the survey company Prolific, while the remaining 800 were recruited through social media and university mailing lists. The combination of these two methods meant that, while the sample was not completely representative of the public, it was diverse. For example, 35% of participants were under 25 years old, 40% were between 26 and 50 years old, and 15% were over 50 years old. Therefore, it gives us an interesting idea of how opinions can differ among the public.
hybrid reality
Is the pandemic over?
Of those surveyed, 57% disagreed that the lifting of COVID restrictions signaled the end of the pandemic. In fact, only 28% agreed that the end of restrictions marked the end of the pandemic. For most people involved in the survey, the end of the pandemic was still in the future.
We also asked people if they thought it was legitimate to end COVID restrictions. Overall, the perceived legitimacy of ending restrictions was low. And while about 40% of people agreed it was pragmatic to have ended restrictions in February, less than 25% agreed it was the moral thing to do.
return to normal
What influenced people's beliefs? Overall, people were more likely to believe that the pandemic was over and that it was legitimate to end all restrictions if they believed that the physical and mental health threats of COVID were in the past. Furthermore, those who felt the crisis was over were generally younger and male. Many with this belief also felt that the crisis had lasted for more than two years and stated that they had often failed to comply with restrictions.
According to The Conversation portal , people around the world are asking the same question: when will it end? And although it seems like a simple question, historical analysis shows that "the end" of an illness is rarely experienced in unison by all those affected.
For some, the threat is quickly Changsha Mobile Number List over and a return to normalcy is eagerly awaited. But for others, the continuing threat of infection or reinfection, as well as the long-term health, economic and societal impacts of the disease, make official announcements of the end premature. This could include, for example, immunocompromised people , some of whom remain vulnerable to COVID despite being vaccinated.
the pandemic ends
When will the pandemic end?
Determining when a disease outbreak has ended is even difficult for global health agencies. For example, the Ebola outbreak that began in 2018 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was declared over by the WHO in 2020, but subsequently flared up again . This revival was again declared over in December 2021.
In England, the government recently decided to lift all remaining legal COVID restrictions. But does this push towards “ living with ” the virus mean England’s pandemic is over? And if not, who should decide when it is?
the pandemic ends
"Living" with the virus
In the 24 hours after the announcement of the end of COVID restrictions in England, The Conversation portal conducted a survey to explore whether people in England believed the pandemic was over. It also explored whether they believed it was legitimate to end all COVID restrictions at this time, and who they believed should be able to decide when the pandemic ends.
Of the few more than 1,300 people surveyed; 500 participants were representative of the population through the survey company Prolific, while the remaining 800 were recruited through social media and university mailing lists. The combination of these two methods meant that, while the sample was not completely representative of the public, it was diverse. For example, 35% of participants were under 25 years old, 40% were between 26 and 50 years old, and 15% were over 50 years old. Therefore, it gives us an interesting idea of how opinions can differ among the public.
hybrid reality
Is the pandemic over?
Of those surveyed, 57% disagreed that the lifting of COVID restrictions signaled the end of the pandemic. In fact, only 28% agreed that the end of restrictions marked the end of the pandemic. For most people involved in the survey, the end of the pandemic was still in the future.
We also asked people if they thought it was legitimate to end COVID restrictions. Overall, the perceived legitimacy of ending restrictions was low. And while about 40% of people agreed it was pragmatic to have ended restrictions in February, less than 25% agreed it was the moral thing to do.
return to normal
What influenced people's beliefs? Overall, people were more likely to believe that the pandemic was over and that it was legitimate to end all restrictions if they believed that the physical and mental health threats of COVID were in the past. Furthermore, those who felt the crisis was over were generally younger and male. Many with this belief also felt that the crisis had lasted for more than two years and stated that they had often failed to comply with restrictions.