Pandemic fatigue is the state of being worn out by recommended precautions and restrictions relating to a pandemic, often due to the length of the restrictions and lack of activities for one to engage in, resulting in boredom, depression, and other issues, thereby leading one to abandoning these precautions and risk catching the disease.[1] Pandemic fatigue can be responsible for an increased number of cases.[2]
Influences
Social norms
Social norms can have an effect on pandemic fatigue.[3]
Response
Epidemiologist Julia Marcus wrote that indefinite abstention from all social contact was not a sustainable way to contain a pandemic. Drawing from lessons in HIV prevention, she advised a principle of harm reduction rather than an "all-or-nothing approach" in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]
COVID-19 pandemic
COVID fatigue is the state of being worn out about the precautionary measures and the threat of COVID-19. Anxiety from the threat of losing economic security and catching the disease both play a part in the feeling of fatigue in people. COVID fatigue has caused people to not follow precautionary guidelines, increasing their risk of catching the virus.[5] Many people are tired of the lockdowns, and not having a normal routine.[6][7] Higher levels of alcohol and drug use also contribute to the feeling of tiredness.[8]
As lockdowns were lifted in many parts of the world, a lot of people started to ignore stay-at-home orders. People went to bars and restaurants, ultimately causing the disease to spread faster.[9]
| This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Metasyntactic variable, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. |