Executive Summary
This report deals with various issues regarding the “post-COVID-19 era,” coined as such on account of its social, political, and economic impacts. The world is changing in a new direction, which signifies a metamorphosis of the global society. This report draws on the World COVID-19 Pandemic and Citizen Life Survey conducted between the 23rd of April and the 5th of June 2020 with 15.312 respondents. The sample was collected via a Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) applying the stratified sampling method. As a global survey, this report outlines the responses of citizens from 30 cities, and the questions focus on their responses to COVID-19, their varying behavior in the course of the pandemic, their confidence in authorities, their support and/or opposition for stringency measures, and their political attitudes. In this particular file, the case of Santiago will be presented. For more detailed survey results, please refer to the attached file.
Review of COVID-19 Pandemic - Of a list of individual disease prevention measures, Santiago respondents reported being less actively involved in all items than the global average.
- When asked about the economic consequences of the pandemic, a large proportion of Santiago respondents (49.2%) said they would lose more than half of their income if they were to experience a 14-day-quarantine. Considering the global average for this figure was only 30%, it can be seen that the scale of economic damage would be quite large in Santiago.
- It was found that Santiago respondents had different experiences from other cities due to some kinds of lockdown measures, such as medical appointment difficulties (64%), school closings (81%), and workplace closings (50%). The proportion of Santiago respondents experiencing these three situations was significantly greater than the global average.
Anxiety and Hope - If they were infected, the Santiago citizens surveyed would feel less anxious about the impacts on their families (1.56/5) than the global average (3.46/5) and would feel less worried about the impact on their friends (2.01/5) than the global average (3.38/5). Compared to other cities, it was characteristic that Santiago respondents would have very low concerns and anxiety about their family and friends, if they were infected.
- Nevertheless, A large proportion of Santiago respondents (81.9%) said they would feel anxious if they bumped into someone not wearing a face mask. It was higher than the global average of 69%.
- Santiago respondents reported feeling depressed (2.43/4), restless with their sleep (2.19/4), and lonely (2.74/4) at this time during the pandemic. The respective global average scores were 2.62, 2.50, and 2.70.
- In regard to their sense of hope about the future, 8.17% of the Santiago respondents said they have “Never” felt hopeful about the future during the pandemic. In comparison, 11.25% of the global citizens answered the same way.
Citizen’s evaluation of government COVID-19 policies - Santiago respondents on average gave their own government’s COVID-19 management performance a score of 3.1 points out of 5. The global average was 3.43.
- When asked to give a score to each government, the Santiago respondents gave Japan the highest score of 4.07 out of 5 and Brazil the lowest score of 1.62 out of 5.
- Considering five aspects of COVID-19 management policies (providing information on testing and the prevention of the epidemic, providing medical care assurance for patients, preventing the spread of infectious diseases, ensuring the emotional stability of the public, and ensuring medical staff safety), the Santiago respondents were most satisfied with providing information of testing and the prevention of the epidemic (3.01/5) and least satisfied with ensuring the emotional stability of the public (2.47/5).
- In general, the Santiago respondents were more likely to agree with school closings, closing of worship places, an entry ban of foreigners, and an internal moving ban than the global average.
Democracy or Authoritarianism - On a scale of 1 to 4 with higher scores indicating a higher degree of satisfaction with their government, the Santiago respondents on average rated their satisfaction level 2.8 for human rights and 2.48 for democracy.
- We then asked Santiago citizens their opinions about emergency measures. On a scale of 1 to 10 with higher scores indicating a stronger belief that emergency measures will move the society more toward a democratic society, Santiago respondents scored 5.52 out of 10, same as the global average.
- Regarding COVID-19 risk management, the Santiago respondents were on average in favor of government decisions over citizens' judgments.
- Meanwhile, the Santiago respondents supported rule of law more than supported rule by order.
Priorities of Quarantine Governance - Santiago respondents’ level of support for prioritizing basic civil rights in COVID-19 management was 3.35 out of 10 on average, while the world average was 4.45. The result shows that the degree to which Santiago citizens prioritized overcoming disasters rather than ensuring citizens’ basic civil rights was much stronger than the global average.
- Santiago respondents’ level of agreement that economic recovery is more important than social distancing was 3.55 out of 10. The world average was 4.65. The result shows that Santiago respondents believed that social distancing for public health was more important than a normal life for economic recovery.
Impacts of the Global Pandemic on National Level Consequences - Regarding the national economy, 91% of the Santiago respondents said the COVID-19 pandemic has had a “Quite large negative impact” or a “Severe negative impact.” In comparison, the global average for this figure was 76.7%.
- As for social trust, 81.7% said the pandemic has had a “Quite large negative impact” or a “Severe negative impact.” The global average for this figure was 56.1%.
- In the case of living standards, 87.7% said the pandemic has had a “Quite large negative impact” or a “Severe negative impact.” The global average for this figure was 65.4%.
- On the quality of democracy, 59.4% said that the pandemic has had a “Quite large negative impact” or a “Severe negative impact.” The global average for this figure was 45.5%.
- Overall, it can be seen that the pandemic was significantly weakening the quality of life of the Santiago citizens.
Trust - The Santiago respondents reported trusting their family members (3.79/4) the most, followed by their colleagues (2.75/4), their neighbors (2.6/4), and immigrants (1.92/4).
- Concerning the four groups measured, the Santiago respondents’ average trust in family members was higher than the global average, while their average trusts in neighbors and immigrants were lower than the world average.
- When asked about institutions providing COVID-19 information, the Santiago respondents reported trusting central government (2.38/4) less than the global average (2.71/4).
- Meanwhile, the Santiago respondents reported trusting foreign media (2.56/4) more than trusting domestic media (2.14/4).
Fairness and Representation - When considering the fairness of income distribution, Santiago respondents ranked 28th place out of 28 cities with a fairness perception score of 3.34 out of 10.
- When considering the fairness of educational opportunity, Santiago respondents ranked 28th place with a fairness perception score of 3.63.
- When considering the fairness of gender relations, Santiago respondents ranked 27th place with a fairness perception score of 4.72.
- When considering the fairness of political participation, Santiago respondents ranked 25th place with a fairness perception score of 4.82.
- When considering the fairness of minority rights, Santiago respondents ranked 27th place with a fairness perception score of 4.25.
- When considering the fairness of public debate, Santiago respondents ranked 24th place with a fairness perception score of 4.68.
- When considering the fairness of representation of political parties, Santiago respondents ranked 28th place with a fairness perception score of 3.44.
- The issue of fairness in Santiago appeared to be very serious as Santiago respondents tended to have a small fairness perception score in most fields.
Communication - On a scale of 1 to 5 with higher scores indicating a higher frequency of communication with their acquaintances (family members, colleagues/customers, neighbors), the Santiago respondents on average scored the frequency 3.52 with family members, 2.58 with colleagues/customers, and 2.59 with neighbors. The respective world average scores were 3.21, 2.59, and 2.57.
- Santiago respondents’ level of frequency of using SNS to communicate was 3.59 out of 4 and level of frequency of using messengers to communicate was 3.79 out of 4. In comparison, the respective world average scores were 3.34 and 3.38.
- We then asked how often global citizens discussed about COVID-19. We provided a 4-point scale with higher scores indicating higher frequency. Santiago respondents scored 3.34. In comparison, the global average was 3.21.
Human Life after COVID-19 - On a scale of 1 to 4 with higher scores indicating more agreement that the “community is doomed to lose its function,” Santiago respondents scored 3.01. As for the statement “We don’t need community. Individual freedom is enough,” Santiago respondents scored 3.23. The respective global averages were 2.54 and 2.29.
- Santiago respondents’ average degrees of agreement to the following statements predicting what the future will be like after the pandemic, “The future cannot be predicted,” “The life will be more unstable,” and “We should realize the fundamental uncertainty of life,” were 7.18/10, 6.48/10, and 4.88/10. The respective global averages were 6.95, 6.28, and 5.26.
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