Bulgaria: Year after Pandemic’s Outbreak, How It Changed Our Life

Nearly a year after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, almost every second Bulgarian believes that it has changed not just individual aspects of our daily life, but our overall way of life,  show the results of the latest nationally representative survey of Alpha Research, conducted between 8-15 February among 1,007 adult citizens.

After nearly ten months of social isolation, over a third of people say they experience psychological and emotional discomfort due to limited contacts with their loved ones, fear of the virus, serious transformations in their usual lifestyle and work.

A significant share of respondents also point to very specific changes, some of which may persist in the future: 17.2% have started to use more high-tech devices, in 13.6%, or in over 300,000 households someone has switched to working from home (home office), 12.4% reported lower income due to the pandemic.

About 4.5% are the households where someone was forced to stay at home because of the children's remote learning. Equally, or just over 130,000 are the families to whom their loved ones have returned from abroad.

Every sixth family, or 15.9%  felt the immediate health consequences of the pandemic, they say that someone of their closest circle has been diagnosed with Covid-19.

For one-fourth of the Bulgarians (mainly residents of the villages and people of lower social standing, who have less social contacts in general) the pandemic has not caused significant changes.

One of the spheres that has undergone the most drastic changes as a result of the pandemic is education. It was among the most significant priorities for Bulgarians, and the situation required quick, flexible and non-traditional solutions, such as the transition to the remote...