In some parts of the world, the spread of the new coronavirus has left public spaces eerily silent. In others, life during the pandemic is bustling as much as it ever was – and in some cases even more so. The Welsh countryside saw unseasonal floods of visitors before UK regulations were tightened, while in Australia, people at Bondi Beach were not prepared to let the virus interrupt their relaxation until the police got involved. In Miami in the US, students on their spring break were determined to celebrate regardless. “If I get corona, I get corona,” said one student. “At the end of the day, I’m not going to let it stop me from partying.”

And it’s not just groups of young people who struggled to get to grips with the reality of life with Covid-19. A poll in the US in mid-March found that less than half of people over the age of 60 were concerned about their risk of death from the virus. For some, like Karen Swallow Prior in Maine, it has led to a generational role reversal as she tries to ensure her elderly parents don’t sneak off into town.

Given that public health bodies such as the World Health Organization, the UK’s NHS, the US’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention among others, are making it clear that there are effective ways to slow the spread of Covid-19 by avoiding close contact with other people, why are so many failing to take notice even after strict measures are introduced? And how can you persuade people to start taking care of themselves and the people around them?

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One study during the Covid-19 outbreak found that people in both the US and in the UK understood public health measures to contain the virus fairly well early on, says Pascal Geldsetzer, a researcher at Harvard University’s TH Chan School of Public Health. In a study he carried out between 23 February and 2 March, Geldsetzer used an online survey to ask 2,986 people in the US and 2,988 people in the UK about their views on and understanding of the new coronavirus. The majority of participants (93% in the US and 86% in the UK) knew which measures could prevent Covid-19 spreading: handwashing, avoiding close contact with people who are ill and avoiding touching your face. But there is a difference between knowing what actions can reduce transmission of the virus and putting them into practice. (Read more about why it’s so difficult to stop touching your face.)