Management of The COVID-19 Pandemic and Public Response in Lithuania: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP)

The article aims to provide an overview of the interrelationships between public knowledge, attitudes, and practical behaviours in the context of a global pandemic and the risk management measures used by the government. By reviewing some of the key trends in crisis management in Lithuania, it seeks to explore the response of society. The aim of the paper is to analyse the interrelationship among subjective public informativeness, attitudes, and behaviours according to different socio-demographic aspects. To meet the main objective of the paper, a representative public survey (N-804) on attitudes towards COVID-19 was conducted (at the end of 2020). The survey sought to explore individual self-protection measures, attitudes towards the dangerousness of the virus, the measures used by the government to combat the pandemic, and prevalent stereotypes and their implications on personal behaviour. The paper discusses the indicators, which are divided into separate blocks, on the basis of which the responses of the study participants are summed up and evaluated on a three-level (good, average, poor) rating scale, followed by correlation analyses on various socio-demographic parameters. The survey revealed that a higher proportion of Lithuanian society behaved responsibly, even being moderately informed and characterised by diverse attitudes. © 2022 Dainius Genys et al., published by Sciendo.

Interrelation Among COVID-19 Situation, Evaluation of Government Actions and Subjective Well-being in Lithuania

The huge and sudden challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic created the need for quick governmental decisions, at the same time provoking changes in subjective public perception. The article empirically analyses the attitudes of different groups in Lithuania towards the COVID-19 situation, government actions and changes in subjective personal well-being. A representative public opinion poll (N-804) was conducted to achieve this goal. Empirical research sought to elucidate individual self-protection measures, attitudes towards the danger of the virus, government-implemented measures to combat the pandemic, and common stereotypes as well as consequences for subjective well-being. The cluster analysis confirmed the assumption that there is a link between the perception of the role of society and expectations towards the government, and between the dynamics of trust in key political actors and support for specific government actions in the context of a pandemic. If the group is more self-reliant, government policies that regulate even small aspects of public life lead to disagreement (in the case of 1st cluster), and vice versa, if the group has high expectations of government, it receives support (in the case of 3rd cluster).