Survey respondents were asked to rate, on a scale from 0 (‘Not at all’) to 10 (‘Entirely’), the extent they were following the government’s current advice and guidelines regarding COVID-19. Responses were grouped as Low (0-5), Medium (6-8) or High (9-10).

In November 2020, when the country was living under Level 5 restrictions, almost two-thirds (65.2%) of respondents rated their compliance with current government advice and guidelines as High, compared with three-quarters (75.4%) respondents rating their compliance as High in August. Respondents reporting High compliance was lowest in June (59.9%) when the country was just about to enter Phase 3 of the Roadmap for reopening society and highest in April (80.6%) approximately a month after initial COVID-19 restrictions were implemented.  See Table 3.1 and Figure 3.1.

Despite a reduction for both sexes in High compliance rates when compared with those in April and August, female respondents continue to be more likely to report their compliance as High with 68.2% of females rating their compliance as High in November compared with 62.2% of males.

Analysis of compliance by age shows that the High compliance rate decreased across all age groups between August and November.  High compliance rates for each age group were all lower than those reported in April, when restrictions were first implemented, but higher than those in June, except for respondents aged 18-34. In November 2020, respondents in the 18-34 age group were least likely to rate their compliance as High (56.6%) while those aged 70 years and over were mostly likely (79.0%).  See Figure 3.2.

In November 2020, 27.8% of respondents reported being Very or Extremely concerned about their own health. This is higher than the rates reported in April (25.8%) and August (21.3%).  In November, there was little difference in the proportions of males and females that were Very or Extremely concerned about their own health (28.1% and 27.5% respectively).  See Table 3.2.

Concern for one’s own health increased with age in November.  Nearly one in four (24.6%) respondents aged 18-34 said they were Very or Extremely concerned about their own health with this rising to 44.0% of those aged 70+.  The proportion of younger respondents that were Very or Extremely concerned about their health in November is twice the rate in June (12.1%) and also higher than that in April (16.0%). The proportion of those aged 70+ that were Very or Extremely concerned about their health is also higher than it was in both April and June (42.5% and 29.6% respectively).  See Figure 3.3.

Nearly one in two (46.0%) respondents that rated their health status as fair/bad/very bad reported that they were Very or Extremely concerned about their own health in November.  This rate is higher than that reported in April (44.1%) and in June (43.0%).  In November 13.8% of respondents that rated their health status as very good said that they were Very or Extremely concerned about their own health.

Male respondents were less likely to report being Very or Extremely concerned about somebody else’s health (52.8%) than female respondents (59.7%).

Analysis by age shows that respondents aged 18-34 were most likely to report being Extremely concerned about somebody else’s health at 26.8%.  See Table 2.4.

Analysis by age shows that concern for maintaining social ties increased across all age groups between April and November, except for those aged 70 years and over. The proportion of respondents in this age group that were Very or Extremely concerned about maintaining social ties fell from 46.3% in April to 38.1% in November.

Respondents living in households with children were more concerned about maintaining social ties compared with those living in households without children. Nearly 42% of those living in households with children were Very or Extremely concerned about maintaining social ties, compared with 37.4% of those living alone and 39.8% of those living in households consisting of two or more adults only.

Respondents were asked whether they thought the Level 5 response to managing the current COVID-19 related risk was Appropriate, Too extreme or Not sufficient.  Over 71% said that it was Appropriate, 18.3% felt it was Too extreme with 10.2% believing it not to be sufficient.  See Table 3.6.

Analysis by age shows that the likelihood of a respondent feeling that the Level 5 response was Appropriate increased with age, with 63.2% of respondents aged 18-34 agreeing that the Level 5 response was Appropriate rising to 88.2% for those aged 70 years and over.  Conversely, the likelihood of a respondent feeling that the Level 5 was Too extreme decreased with age, falling from 23.1% for those aged 18-34 to 5.2% for those aged 70 years and over.  Respondents aged 18-34 were most likely to think that the Level 5 response was Not sufficient while those aged 70 years and over were least likely to agree with this sentiment (13.7% and 6.6% respectively).  See Figure 3.7.

Nearly one in four (24.2%) respondents living in households with children felt that the Level 5 response was Too extreme. One in six (16.9%) respondents living alone and one in seven (14.0%) respondents living in household consisting of two or more adults and no children felt this way.

Over a fifth (22.2%) of respondents in urban areas thought that Level 5 restrictions were Too extreme compared with a tenth (10.9%) of those living in rural areas.  More than three quarters (77.6%) of those living in rural areas felt the measures were Appropriate compared over two thirds (68.3%) of those in urban areas. Nearly 10% of those living in urban areas and 11.5% of those living in rural areas felt Level 5 response was Not sufficient.

As levels of concern for one’s own health and for other’s health increases, the sentiment towards appropriateness or not being sufficient increases, and the belief that the Level 5 response is Too extreme decreases.

Older respondents thought they were less likely to get infected than younger respondents. For example, nearly 91% of those aged 70 years and over believed they have a Low chance of getting infected compared with 78.4% of those aged 18-34. Conversely, younger respondents thought they were most like to get infected with 7.4% believing they had a High chance of getting infected over the next 3 months. This rate, however, is lower than that reported in April when one in ten (10.6%) respondents in this age group graded their likelihood of infection as High.

Those living alone were most likely to believe their chance of infection was Low (92.4%).  The comparable rate for respondents living in households with children was 82.1% and 83.1% for those living in households consisting of two or more adults only.