News Medical - Behaviour modification key to prevent COVID-19, study shows

One of the longest-running studies examining COVID-prevention behaviors shows hygiene changes have been sustained but not complex changes, like social distancing, with important policy implications.

A longitudinal survey from just after the first lockdown in Australia in 2020 shows people have maintained simple hygiene measures in response to the pandemic but reduced their physical distancing over time, indicating that lockdowns may be required to stop outbreaks.

The study by University of Sydney researchers in the School of Public Health and Sydney Health Literacy Lab, Faculty of Medicine and Health, found people who tended to keep up distancing behaviors were more concerned about the pandemic, had stronger feelings of responsibility towards their community, and felt more confident about their ability to keep up the behaviors.