Russians no longer interested in coronavirus statistics

A sharp exit from the pandemic

Sociologists record the almost complete “loss” of the coronavirus pandemic from the agenda of Russian society. This is only partially due to a real improvement in the epidemiological situation, experts believe. The incidence rates have halved compared to those recorded at the peak of the fifth wave, but the mortality rates are still high. Among other reasons, experts cite the fatigue of society, the dramatically changed perception of the world in the mental picture of citizens, and even the desire "not to reinforce new stress with the remnants of the old."

According to Alexei Firsov, a sociologist and other experts note that the coronavirus pandemic has “completely” fallen out of the agenda, even from its “basement”. Mr. Firsov notes that the global media pay much less attention to the topic of coronavirus.

“It's like there's a switch that just changes the 'hard' themes. It is surprising that reports and statistics have ceased to be published. Perhaps a decision has been made not to reinforce the new stress with the remnants of the old. Or maybe we really live in a world that is determined and structured by the media agenda,” says Mr. Firsov.

A psychiatrist, Roman Suleimanov at RUDN University agrees with him. He explains that the response to the pandemic largely depended on how the topic was presented in the media. “The media dictates how afraid we are. Likewise, the reaction to the economic crisis or the war in Ukraine is dictated more by how these events are covered in the media,” says Mr. Suleymanov. However, he does not exclude the possibility that in two years the pandemic has “tired” people, they are thus displacing events that they no longer want to think about from their consciousness.

Head of the Department of Methodology of Science,at Penza State University Anna Ochkina notes that the topics “who and how got sick with coronavirus and what are the consequences” confidently held leading positions for almost two years. Now they have been almost completely ousted from social networks by information about events in Ukraine.

“What is there to be surprised. As neuropsychologists say, pain is one of the most sophisticated signaling systems in the body, and the signal that you have a headache is redundant when you are escaping a tiger. The point is that the strongest sensations are interrupted by others, ”

According to the Doctor of Psychological Sciences,at Moscow State University, M. V. Lomonosov, the military conflict in Ukraine became an event that dramatically changed the “settings of the basic psychology of society”, the perception of the world and reality in the mental picture of Russians. “Earlier, we said that it is the pandemic and the infodemic that are becoming factors leading to a new picture of the world. But against the backdrop of ongoing events, when we entered the turbulent stage of the country's development, all other risks, including those associated with natural disasters, gave way to a threat that people created themselves and which, they believe, they can somehow influence" - says Mr. Asmolov. Anna Ochkina adds that the topic of coronavirus will not disappear globally. She admits that the "official information agenda" will use the pandemic to "report on achievements or, conversely, scare a little." “However, as a factor of public anxiety, she will leave - maybe in second place, but by a very large margin,” summarizes Ms. Ochkina.

Psychologists talk about the increased demand of citizens for help in connection with the military operation. At the same time, Aleksey Firsov does not deny that the topic of the pandemic may indeed be less relevant on the public agenda, including due to the improvement in the epidemiological situation. So, on March 3, the federal operational headquarters reported 93 thousand new cases of coronavirus per day. For three days in a row, statistics recorded less than 100 thousand cases. Sergey Voznesensky,an Infectious Diseases expert at RUDN University emphasizes that this is two times less than the peak values of the fifth wave (for example, on February 11, 203,949 cases of infection were detected). In general, according to the statistics, over the past week, the incidence of coronavirus infection in the Russian Federation decreased by 27.6%. In particular, more than 10 thousand people were sent to hospitals on Thursday, including 337 people in Moscow.

STATISTICS ON COVID-19

Sergei Voznesensky, According to him, it was the reduction in the number of hospitalizations and the reduction in the burden on the healthcare system that made it possible to revise the restrictive measures. Recall that on March 1, published new guidelines for the prevention of coronavirus. The supervisory service recommended that in the conditions of the spread of the omicron strain, only the mandatory wearing of masks in the premises and enhanced disinfection should be maintained. In connection with the improvement of the situation in Moscow, according to the authorities, "the increase in the volume of planned assistance continues." The day before, about 1.4 thousand beds in four hospitals returned to planned work in the capital. From March 3 in Moscow, and from March 4 in St. Petersburg, QR codes are completely abandoned for visiting catering, cultural institutions, sports and trade facilities.

The Pandemic authorities canceled most of the COVID restrictions in Moscow and does not exclude the risk of new virus mutations that could change the course of the pandemic:

Each new case of the disease can lead to the emergence of a new version of the virus. “To date, however, this has not happened. And in order to make the probability even less in the future, citizens should not forget to be vaccinated and revaccinated on time, ”concluded Mr. Voznesensky.

Note, according to experts, the level of herd immunity to the virus has been declining for the third week in a row and as of February 25 is 57.8%.

The fact that the topic of coronavirus is rapidly disappearing from public consciousness, but not from everyday life, is also evidenced by new outbreaks of the disease in the world. Hong Kong doctors on Wednesday confirmed 55,353 new cases of coronavirus infection, which was a new anti-record since the start of the pandemic. New cases are 70% more than the day before, according to local media. They write that since January, another and probably the most serious wave of COVID-19 has covered this special administrative region of China, while the vaccination rate of Hong Kong residents has come close to 90%.