How are Wendy’s Readers Doing During This Pandemic? Survey Results!
During this COVID-19 Pandemic, it appears that much of the media coverage has been about how bigger towns are handling the crisis. I wanted to change that, so I created a survey for my readers to fill out about the pandemic. However, my idea for my latest entry had a couple of unexpected issues that I wish to apologize for.
- One-I realized too late that the site I used for the survey only allows you to see the first 100 responses for free. If I wanted to see results for all 117 replies, I would have to sign up for a pay plan-the cheapest one was $384.00 a year. To remedy this for any future surveys I may do for my store or my blog, I found a site that allows you to see unlimited responses for free.
- Two-It was brought to my attention that the question regarding homework packets was requiring an answer even though the question may not have applied. For that question, I will not be talking about the results with the answer “neither easy nor difficult” since people seemed to just check that option if they had no kids in school.
I want to say that I am sorry for those two snags in this process, and to thank each and every one of you that took the time to fill the survey out. You made this latest entry possible!
And now, the results from the 100 replies that I was able to view.
While the news, commercials, and social media have defended their actions saying they are trying to keep viewers informed and safe, it appears many of my readers are skeptical of that. For my question of how much trust people had in news and social media on the pandemic, the answer ‘none at all’ received the highest response of 35%, while only 3% of the survey takers stated they trusted the media a ‘great deal’. In the comment section of that question, a common consensus was that the media has resorted to fear mongering-blowing it out of proportion and making it sound worse than it really is.
One person in the comment section brought up what I feel is an important point. Rather than merely sharing reports on cases by county-give a more descriptive location so others may take extra precautions. I have to agree that a more descriptive location would be beneficial-especially when you consider the size of some rural counties. For a couple of examples-it is a distance of 63 miles from Townsend to Abrams in Oconto County, and the mileage from Birnamwood to Angelica in Shawano County is 55 miles. Shouldn’t citizens be given a better idea of where cases are if the virus is a big enough danger to warrant safer at home orders? In areas like Shawano and Oconto County simply labeling cases by county does not seem helpful.
I was also very curious to learn how concerned my readers are about contracting COVID-19.
Most people-53%-shared they are ‘somewhat afraid’, 38% said they are not at all afraid, while the number listed at very afraid was 9%. When I asked about the protection people were using, self-quarantine received the highest response at 47%. Homemade masks were second at 32.2%, and 20% shared they are not doing anything different. When I asked how readers felt about the extension of the safer at home order to May 24th, 33.3% did not agree with it at all, while 26% fully agreed with it. A majority at 39.5% only partially agreed with it and felt more of the restrictions should have been eased.
The feelings were split when it came down to how people felt about Governor Tony Evers and President Trump and their work on the pandemic. For Governor Evers, 51% of the respondents were either ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘very dissatisfied’, while 36.4% were either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’. In the case of President Trump, 53% were either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ while 30% were either ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘very dissatisfied’.
The revised safer at home order forced all Wisconsin public and private schools to remain closed for the remainder of the school year. To help the Gillett students not lose what they have learned, they each receive packets of schoolwork when lunches are delivered on Wednesdays. While my two younger sons have no issue completing theirs, it appears there are a number of students that do. Of the respondents, 26.3% answered that the completion has been either ‘difficult’ or ‘very difficult’. Only 11% said it was either ‘easy’ or ‘very easy’. I am sorry to see that the kids won’t go back at all this year. All the activities kids enjoy once the snow melts-playing outside with friends again, spring sports, prom, class field trips-are either postponed or cancelled for the year. I hope we can really make up for that in 2021.
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Of the 100 who answered my survey, 57.2% stated they are still working-either at their regular job site or from home. Only 21% said they were laid off, while 22% preferred not to answer the question. As a business owner, I have been fortunate. The demand for homemade masks has allowed Gillett Handiworks to bring in income at this time, so my business will be okay. I am not sure how many of my other business-owning friends can say the same of their establishments, and I worry for them. I would love to see us all serve the Gillett area once again after the order is lifted.
One final thought I have is something I think my mom would have said about this pandemic if she were still with us. “Just take it one day at a time, and whatever is gonna be is gonna be.” That just seemed like an annoying cliché whenever she said that, but right now, I think living by that is our only real option. We don’t have any end date on this thing, and outside of following the CDC guidelines, things really are out of our control. So, let’s all take it one day at a time! Take care everyone!
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