Yomiuri survey: 42% willing to endure precautionary COVID measures for one more year

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:15 JST, March 10, 2022

In a Yomiuri Shimbun survey conducted to mark the two-year anniversary of the first confirmed coronavirus case in Japan, respondents were asked how much longer they would be prepared to observe precautionary measures against the pandemic, with 42% selecting about one year.

Nineteen percent of respondents said they could endure such measures for six months or less, 16% selected two to three years, 13% selected three years or more and 9% said they could no longer put up with precautionary measures.

By gender, 31% of female respondents said they could no longer put up with the precautions or that they could endure them for six more months or less, while the figure was 24% for male respondents.

It has been said that school closures and telecommuting have concentrated the burden of childcare and housework on women, which may have led to dissatisfaction with precautionary measures among female respondents.

The younger the respondents, the more likely they were to want to let their guards down. Only 4% of respondents aged 60 and over said they could no longer endure pandemic precautions, but the figure was 18% among respondents aged 18-39.

Mask fatigue may also be a factor. Forty-three percent of respondents said they were tired of wearing masks.

Among respondents who said they could no longer put up with the precautions, 57% said they were tired of wearing masks, but among respondents who said they could endure the precautionary measures for three years or more, only 27% said they were tired of wearing masks.

Questionnaires were sent by mail to 3,000 randomly selected voters nationwide on Jan. 25. The results of the survey are based on the 2,184 valid responses The Yomiuri Shimbun had received by Feb. 28.