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 Taipei 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, Taipei respondents reported being most actively involved in wearing masks (4.64/5) to prevent infection of COVID-19.
- When asked about the economic consequences of the pandemic, 23.4% of the Taipei respondents said they would lose more than half of their income if they were to experience a 14-day-quarantine. By contrast, the global average for this figure was 30%.
- The Taipei respondents experienced a different degree of the following social impacts: medical appointment difficulties (13%), school closings (11%), and workplace closings (21%). The proportion of Taipei respondents experiencing these three situations was significantly lower than the global average.
Anxiety and Hope - If they were infected, the Taipei citizens surveyed would feel more anxious about the impacts on their families (4.16/5) than the world average (3.46/5) and more worried about the impact on their friends (4.08/5) than the global average (3.38/5). Compared to other cities, it was characteristic that Taipei respondents would have high concerns and anxiety about their family and friends, if they were infected.
- 31.5% of the Taipei respondents said they would feel “Not Very Anxious” or “Not Anxious at all” if they bumped into someone not wearing a face mask. The global average for this figure was 29%.
- Taipei respondents reported feeling depressed (2.72/4), restless with their sleep (2.75/4), and lonely (2.87/4) at this time during the pandemic. The respective global average scores are 2.62, 2.50, and 2.70.
- In regard to their sense of hope about the future, 9.78% of the Taipei respondents said they have “Never” felt hopeful about the future during the pandemic. In comparison, 11.25% of the global respondents answered the same way.
Citizen’s evaluation of government COVID-19 policies - Taipei respondents on average gave their own government’s COVID-19 management performance a score of 4.5 points out of 5, which was the highest of all cities in the survey. The result showed Taipei respondents were highly satisfied with their government’s performance.
- When asked to give a score to each government, the Taipei respondents gave Taiwan the highest score of 4.36 out of 5 and China the lowest score of 1.74 out of 5.
- On a scale of 1 to 5 with higher scores indicated more satisfaction, the Taipei respondents’ average scores of satisfactions with COVID-19 management policies were as follows: providing information on testing and the prevention of the epidemic (4.13/5), providing medical care assurance for patients (4.26/5), preventing the spread of infectious diseases (4.25/5), ensuring the emotional stability of the public (3.91/5), and ensuring medical staff safety (3.92/5).
- In general, the Taipei respondents were less likely to agree with school closings, worship place closings, and an internal moving ban than the global average.
- Meanwhile, the Taipei respondents were more likely to agree with an entry ban of foreign nationals 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 Taipei respondents on average rated their satisfaction level 3.18 for human rights and 3.11 for democracy.
- We then asked Taipei 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, Taipei respondents scored 5.04 out of 10, while global citizens scored 5.52 out of 10.
- Regarding COVID-19 risk management, the Taipei respondents were on average in favor of government decisions over citizens' judgments.
- Compared to the world average (5.84/10), the Taipei respondents were much supportive of rule by order (4.89/10).
Priorities of Quarantine Governance - Taipei respondents’ level of support for prioritizing basic civil rights in COVID-19 management was 3.53 out of 10 on average, while the world average was 4.45. The result shows that the degree to which Taipei citizens prioritized overcoming disasters rather than ensuring citizens’ basic civil rights was stronger than the global average.
- Taipei respondents’ level of agreement that economic recovery is more important than social distancing was 3.8 out of 10. The world average was 4.65. The result shows that Taipei 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, 56.7% of the Taipei 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, 26.6% 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, 35.1% 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, 20.8% 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, Taipei respondents said the negative impact of COVID-19 on their nation was less than the global average.
Trust - The Taipei respondents reported trusting their family members (3.66/4) the most, followed by their colleagues (2.92/4), their neighbors (2.7/4), and immigrants (1.92/4).
- Concerning the various institutions providing COVID-19 information, the Taipei respondents had the highest average score of trust in the information provided by the central government (3.12/4) among all cities surveyed.
- Meanwhile, the Taipei respondents reported a higher level of trust in information provided by domestic media (2.55/4) than foreign media (2.26/4).
Fairness and Representation - Taipei respondents were among the highest in all fairness indicator ranks except for the one for income distribution, where Taipei ranked around the middle.
- When considering the fairness of income distribution, Taipei respondents ranked 14th place out of 28 cities with a fairness perception score of 4.74 out of 10.
- When considering the fairness of educational opportunity, Taipei respondents ranked 2nd place with a fairness perception score of 6.54.
- When considering the fairness of gender relations, Taipei respondents ranked 1st place with a fairness perception score of 6.43.
- When considering the fairness of political participation, Taipei respondents ranked 1st place with a fairness perception score of 6.26.
- When considering the fairness of minority rights, Taipei respondents ranked 2nd place with a fairness perception score of 6.24.
- When considering the fairness of public debate, Taipei respondents ranked 1st place with a fairness perception score of 6.88.
- When considering the fairness of representation of political parties, Taipei respondents ranked 6th place with a fairness perception score of 5.66.
Communications - 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 Taipei respondents on average scored the frequency 3 with family members, 2.44 with colleagues/customers, and 2.51 with neighbors. The respective world average scores were 3.21, 2.59, and 2.57.
- Taipei respondents’ level of frequency of using SNS to communicate was 3.83 out of 4 and level of frequency of using messengers to communicate was 2.85 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. Taipei respondents scored 3.1. 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,” Taipei respondents scored 2.46. As for the statement “We don’t need community. Individual freedom is enough,” Taipei respondent scored 1.97. The respective global averages were 2.54 and 2.29.
- Taipei 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 7.04/10, 5.99/10, and 5.43/10. The respective global averages were 6.95, 6.28, and 5.26.
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762_1)covid-report-Taipei.pdf
