Hong Kong Institute of Asia Pacific Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) conducted a telephone survey from Sept. 29 to Oct. 14 about the coronavirus in Hong Kong.
Among the interviewees living with their families, 42.4 percent said their family members, including domestic workers, were confirmed with COVID-19 infection.
In addition, 68.9 percent of respondents lean toward relaxing the pandemic prevention policies.
CUHK shared that they randomly sampled from both landline and mobile phone numbers and successfully interviewed 705 citizens aged 18 or above.
Based on the 705 sample size, the percentage of error was 3.69 percent, which confirmed the credibility set at 95 percent.
According to the survey results, 38.5 percent of respondents claimed to have had COVID-19 in 2022
Respondents who claimed they have been free of coronavirus was 52 percent, while 9.6 percent said that they “did not know, hard to say, or refused to answer.”
Among interviewees who live with their family members, including domestic workers, 42.4 percent said that one or more of their family members or helpers were COVID-19 positive at least once in 2022.
People who said they lived with family members or were domestic workers and had been virus free were at 46.7 percent. However, 10.9 percent of those interviewed said they did not know, were unsure, or refused to answer.
When asked whether they would be worried about contracting COVID-19, 62.6 percent of citizens said they were “not worried.”
Twenty-one point three percent said “a little worried.” Another 12.9 percent of interviewees said they were somewhat concerned, while 8.2 percent were concerned, and 4.7 percent were extremely concerned.
On the other hand, 3.2 percent of those surveyed said they were unsure, or it was hard to say.
Compared with the results of September 2021, there was no significant difference in the response regarding citizens’ concerns about contracting COVID-19.
To increase the vaccination rate in children, the government has expanded the applicable age for the vaccine pass for children between 5 and 11.
Only 36.6 percent supported the policy, while nearly 50 percent of the respondents opposed the government proposal.
Citizens’ opinions regarding legislation to force vaccination on the elderly in nursing homes, over half of the respondents, 55.8 percent, disagreed, while over 33.6 percent supported.
The telephone study also found that 68.9 percent of Hong Kong residents thought anti-epidemic measures should be relaxed.
While 20.2 percent believed that anti-epidemic measures should remain the same, 4.9 percent thought anti-epidemic measures should be tightened.
Nonetheless, six percent indicated they did not know, or it was challenging to say.
When comparing the results between 2022 and 2021, the figures suggest that more people are in favor of COVID-19 prevention measures being relaxed.
