For 52 Percent of Brazilians, Worst of Covid-19 Crisis Has Passed – August Poll

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The worst moment of the crisis caused by the coronavirus in the country has passed, according to 52 percent of the Brazilian population. The data is from the August XP/IPESPE survey, released on Monday, August 17th.

It is the first time in the survey that over half of the population say the worst is over. The result represented a sharp improvement in optimism compared to July, when 39 percent said the worst was over. The error margin is 3.2 percentage points plus or minus.

At the other end, the share of the population that considers the worst is yet to come dropped to a minimum of 41 percent, from 53 percent in the July survey. This is the lowest rate for the answer since April, when the question became part of the survey.

There was also an improvement in the population’s risk perception. The proportion of those who say they are not afraid of the coronavirus reached its highest level in August in five months. The rate reached 28 percent, from 24 percent in July, the same rate observed in March, when the virus had just reached the country.

The share of those who say they are very afraid of the virus has also dropped to 33 percent, the lowest since February (21 percent). Those who say they are a little afraid have fluctuated from 37 percent in July to 38 percent in August. All variations were within the 3.2 percentage point error margin.

The assessment of President Jair Bolsonaro’s performance in the fight against the coronavirus fluctuated within the error margin. Those who regard his performance as “bad or terrible” fell from 52 to 50 percent, and those who regard it as “good or excellent” dropped from 25 to 24 percent. The “average” rating rose from 21 to 22 percent.

The assessment of governors also fluctuated within the margin of error: the approval of states in fighting the coronavirus dropped from 39 to 38 percent and disapproval from 28 to 26 percent. The “average” rating remained stable at 33 percent.

The survey conducted 1,000 telephone interviews between August 13th and 15th. The sample considers respondents’ sex, type of city, region, age, municipality size, religion, occupation, income and schooling.