Several more than before, believe that the Coronavirus epidemic will last until Christmas

Norwegians look grimly at how long the Coronavirus crisis will last in Norway, according to Nettavisen’s Coronavirus survey. Many believe it will last through the year.

In the weekly survey by Nettavisen, around 3,000 people were asked “How long do you think the Coronavirus epidemic will last in Norway?”. They were given the following answer options “until Easter”, “until the summer”, “until Christmas”, “several years” or “do not know”.

More people than in previous weeks now believe that the Coronavirus pandemic will last until Christmas: Almost half of Norway’s population (46 percent) believe it will last throughout the year.

Two weeks ago, in comparison, 34 percent thought the pandemic would last until Christmas. Then the majority thought that the pandemic would last until the summer in Norway. Now, 25.9 percent believe it will last through the summer, compared to 43 percent two weeks ago.

It is unclear from the question whether people who have responded have thought about how long the measures will last or when they think the epidemic will be over in Norway, but professor and social scientist Bernt Aardal at the University of Oslo thinks the two can be linked.

– “As long as you have a pandemic, the feeling is probably there that you have to take the consequences of it too,” says the professor.

Aardal believes the results indicate that Norwegians have a good understanding of the crisis and understand that the crisis is serious and long-lasting.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today