Germans less worried about the omicron variant than the delta variant. The majority of people in Germany approve of the government’s stricter rules to curb the spread of COVID-19 but are less worried about the omicron variant, a new national survey revealed on Thursday.
The latest ‘ Deutschland trend ‘ survey, released by public broadcaster ARD, polled over 1,300 people from January 3 through January 5.
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Germans less worried about omicron
While the majority of people in Germany — 51% — listed their level of concern over variants as “very high or high,” that figure actually dropped by nine points compared to responses in early December.
The representative poll comes nearly a month after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government took over the reins of Germany’s pandemic response.
Deutschland trend shows optimism
It also comes ahead of a meeting on Friday between federal and state leaders to discuss new pandemic rules — including whether to shorten quarantine times in Germany.
Some 42% of people surveyed said they think the current measures to stem the spread of COVID-19 “are appropriate.” That figure is up by 22 points compared with early December, when public opinion in Germany was very much in favour of enacting tighter curbs.
Compared to its European neighbours, Germany has so far been spared the record-breaking spikes in new COVID cases due to the omicron variant, although cases are rising, the Deutschland trend survey gives hope of optimism.
Italy introduces mandatory vaccinations as Omicron infections hit new records
Germany also has a comparatively lower rate of vaccination compared to some other Western European nations. Over 71% of the population is fully vaccinated and nearly 41% have received a booster which also provides some explanation as to why the Germans less worried about the Omricon variant than their EU neighbours.
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