Our latest survey found an uptick in anxiety levels, with the number of respondents feeling anxious rising by 3%. That’s the largest increase between surveys we’ve recorded so far. Anxiety levels are now the highest they’ve been since early May.

There are obviously a range of reasons that could cause this, from the rapidly increasing global death toll to mass layoffs, but there are two big concerns playing on a lot of people’s minds.

In the same survey, we also asked people how they were feeling about new lockdowns and a further wave of Covid-19 down the line.

A lot of people are clearly very concerned about both issues, with 85% and 84% of people worried about another wave and another lockdown respectively.

It makes total sense that these issues will also be playing into people’s anxiety. The idea of moving forward only to be forced backwards is a troubling one. But, after what the world has been through already, could these anxieties and worries actually be turned to good?

The pandemic has meant we’ve had to make huge adjustments to our behavior. We’ve had to keep our distance from people, wash our hands more regularly, and wear masks. Uptake of these has differed from country-to-country, particularly when it comes to wearing masks while going about our daily business. Wearing one in Europe or in the US before the pandemic was practically unheard of, while it was far more common in some Asian countries.

In our surveys, we’ve also tracked the adoption of activities that aim to slow the spread of Covid-19.

While they don’t track 100% survey-to-survey, for a lot of the time anxiety levels were falling, social distancing was declining too. This suggests that as we worried less, we were less likely to keep up anti-virus precautions.

This is backed up by our latest survey. Anxiety levels jumped up, and so did mask usage by a massive 10%. Social distancing also saw a third consecutive 1% week-on-week increase.

This tells us that worries about second waves and new lockdowns could be key to preventing them in the first place. The data shows positive signs of people taking Covid-19 more seriously. Having said that, if the situation improves, people could relax and start leaving the masks at home.

This sums up the massive obstacle governments and health agencies have faced from day one: how to keep people proactive in fighting Covid-19. They need to find the right messaging that convinces people to remain vigilant and cautious in the good and the bad times. It’s no easy task, but one that needs a solution if we want to hold on to our successes.

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Stay safe,

Brandwatch Response Team