Pandemic fatigue and attenuated impact of avoidance behaviours against COVID-19 transmission in Hong Kong by cross-sectional telephone surveys

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study aims to explore the attenuated impact of reported avoidance behaviours adherence on the transmission of COVID-19 through cross-sectional surveys in Hong Kong, in order to make up for the lack of research on avoidance behaviours fatigue.Design40 cross-sectional telephone surveys.SettingAll districts in Hong Kong.Participants31 332 Cantonese or English-speaking participants at age of 18 years or above.MethodsWe collected data on behaviours and estimated the average effective reproduction number (Rt) among the Hong Kong adult population during the COVID-19 epidemic wave in November–December 2020 and compared with the preceding epidemic in June–July 2020.ResultsWe observed a reduction in adherence to voluntary avoidance behaviours due to pandemic fatigue, but continued adherence to regulated avoidance behaviours. The average Rt during the post-work from home period was higher in November–December wave with estimated Rt of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.75 to 0.87) compared with the June–July wave with an Rt of 0.67 (95% CI: 0.60 to 0.75).ConclusionsThe declined effectiveness of social distancing interventions in reducing COVID-19 transmission was associated with fatigue with voluntary avoidance behaviours in Hong Kong population, implying a need for the government to reinvigorate the public to maintain effective pandemic control.

The Mediating Role of Resilience and Electronic Health Literacy in the Relationship Between Pandemic Fatigue and Adherence to Preventive Behaviours Against COVID-19

“…However, given the scarcity of studies on this phenomenon and the use of diverse measures to quantify it in available studies, we are unable to compare our findings to those of other researchers. Our findings matched those of prior studies conducted among the general public that found a rise in physical and psychological tiredness and a loss of interest to comply with the usual activity amid the COVID-19 pandemic [34,35] and was less than the average PF score reported by a study conducted by Kim et al (22.3 ±7.2) [36] and that conducted by Labrague et al among university students using the same scale (31.5 ±6.9) [16].…”

Legal restrictions and mitigation strategies amongst a disabled population during COVID-19

“…This is in line with findings from a German study of PwD showing generally excellent compliance with mitigation strategies ( Lippke et al, 2022 ). While we found some evidence of a decline in hygiene and distancing behaviors and the use of facemasks this was smaller than has been observed with the general population ( Davies et al, 2021 ; YouGov, 2020 ), and is broadly in accordance with research showing compliance with mitigation strategies falls over time as a function of legal restrictions ( Gao et al, 2021 ; Smith et al, 2022 ; Wright and Fancourt, 2021 ).…”

Prediction of upcoming global infection burden of influenza seasons after relaxation of public health and social measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: a modelling study

“… 13 By mid-2022, COVID-19 PHSMs had been relaxed at various levels, either fully or partly, by the governments of different locations and countries. 14 , 15 Given the increases in susceptibility to influenza viruses along with the relaxation of COVID-19 PHSMs, the impact of upcoming influenza seasons could be considerably higher than that of the pre-COVID-19 pandemic seasons across the globe in terms of infections and related health-care seeking rates. An example of this is the very substantial winter influenza season in Australia that started in May, 2022.…”