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A recent survey conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) found that about 55% of the respondents believed that the epidemic had eased in April compared with March, and the rate was 48.1 percentage points higher than a similar survey conducted in March. More than 30% of the people thought that the government had done a good or very good job in controlling the epidemic, and the relevant percentage has also increased significantly from the March survey. However, about half of the respondents said that their household income had decreased due to the epidemic, reflecting that the epidemic has hit people’s livelihood quite seriously.

The telephone survey was conducted in the evening from 17 to 23 April 2020 and a total of 722 people aged 18 or above were successfully interviewed. According to the survey results, 56.2% of the respondents felt that the epidemic had eased compared with the previous month (March), a significant increase of 48.1 percentage points from the March survey. Only 8.4% of them thought that the outbreak had worsened, a drastic drop of 58.6 percentage points from the March survey. About 32.7% believed that it was about the same, a 9.7 percentage points increase when compared with the March survey. The statistical significance test (Chi-Square Test) also showed that the differences in the percentage distribution of the two surveys were statistically significant. Furthermore, the proportion of the respondents who were worried about being infected with COVID-19 had also declined. About 8.3% of them were very worried, a drop of 5.2 percentage points from the March survey. 18.7% were quite worried, a decrease of 1.4 percentage points from the March survey. About 47.2% of them were somewhat worried, an increase of 2.0 percentage points from the March survey. 24.7% were not worried at all, 4.2 percentage points higher than that of the March survey. The Chi-Square Test also found that the differences in the two surveys were statistically significant.

In terms of attitudes towards epidemic prevention, 44.6% of the respondents believed that the general public in Hong Kong were less alert compared with last month (March), 37.4% said they were about the same, and only 15.1% thought that they were more alert. However, when being asked about their own attitude towards epidemic prevention in comparison with last month, 78.0% said they were about the same, 14.5% thought they were more alert, and only 6.9% felt that they were less alert. A comparison of the two survey results showed that no matter their perception of the attitude of the general public in Hong Kong or their own attitude towards epidemic prevention, the results of the survey were not much different. The Chi-Square Test also confirmed that there was no statistically significant difference on these issues between the results of the two surveys.

Regarding the government’s performance in controlling the epidemic, 32.0% of respondents thought it was quite good or very good, an increase of 6.5 percentage points from the previous survey. 56.2% felt that it was quite bad or very bad, a decrease of 4.3 percentage points from the previous survey. The Chi-Square Test showed that the differences in percentage distribution between the two surveys were statistically significant. In addition, 33.2% of the respondents believed that the government’s measures in response to the epidemic were sufficient or very sufficient, which was an increase of 9.6 percentage points from the March survey. 63.0% of them thought that it was insufficient or very insufficient, a decrease of 8.5 percentage points from the March survey. A comparison of the two survey results using the Chi-Square Test also found that the differences were statistically significant. Judging from the above survey results, the impression of the respondents towards the government’s performance in handling the epidemic appears to have improved.

However, the impacts of the epidemic on people’s livelihood seems to be quite heavy. About half (50.9%) of the respondents said that their household income had been reduced due to the epidemic. 50.3% of respondents said they were worried or very worried about losing their jobs because of the epidemic and 3.2% even admitted that they or their family members had already been made unemployed due to the epidemic. About 42.3% said that they were not worried or very worried.

Concerning those measures taken by individuals to prevent infection, 8.4% of the respondents said that they did more shopping compared with last month (March), an increase of 3.6 percentage points from the previous survey. About 60.4% reported that they went out less for shopping, a slight increase of 0.7 percentage point from the previous survey. 30.9% replied that it was about the same, a decrease of 4.0 percentage points from the previous survey. The Chi-Square Test found that the differences between the two surveys were statistically significant. On the matter of dining out, 54.0% of the respondents said that they went less compared with last month, 39.1% said they dined out almost the same, and only 6.1% said they dined out more. With regard to gathering with relatives and friends, 64.1% of the respondents said that they had fewer gatherings compared to last month, 33.0% responded that it was about the same, and only 2.4% said they had more gatherings. Regarding the frequency of hiking, 48.3% of the respondents stated that it was about the same, 35.6% said they went out less for hiking, and 15.1% answered that they hiked more often. A comparison with the March survey showed that there was not much difference in the survey results of the above three types of activity. No statistically significant difference was found by the Chi-Square Test.

Regarding individual anti-infection measures, 93.1% of the respondents said that they often wore masks when going out, 83.2% often washed their hands with liquid soap or hand sanitisers, and 58.2% often cleaned their homes with disinfectants. These survey results were also very similar to those of the March survey. The Chi-Square Test found that the percentage differences of the two surveys were not statistically significant.

Lastly, the results of the current survey showed that 71.9% of the respondents said that the number of masks stored in their home was sufficient or very sufficient, an increase of 8.4 percentage points from the March survey. 24.9% considered that the amount was insufficient or very insufficient, a drop of 7.7 percentage points from the March survey. The Chi-Square Test found that the differences in percentage distribution between the two surveys were statistically significant. As for the stockpile of disinfection and cleaning supplies stored at home, 83.7% of the respondents considered them sufficient or very sufficient, and only 14.3% said they were insufficient or very insufficient. A comparison of the results of the two surveys by using the Chi-Square Test found that the differences were not statistically significant.

In the survey, a total of 722 respondents aged 18 or above were successfully interviewed, with a response rate of 39.9%. The sampling error is estimated at plus or minus 3.65 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.