Perception of the Risk of the COVID-19 Pandemic by Population : The Case of Gabon

Abstract

This article analyzes the risk perception of COVID-19 in Gabon, in general, and in the capital Libreville, in particular. Unlike work focused on the impact of COVID-19 on public finances, the education system, the digital system and the banking sector, etc., we are interested in its perception by the population. Thus, we were inspired by the work of Dryef et al. (2020) and we carried out a survey, via Google Forms, over a period from October 25, 2020 to December 26, 2020. A questionnaire was distributed via Whatsapp and was answered by one hundred and twelve (112) people. It appears that for the population of the Gabonese capital, the conversation of being infected with COVID-19 is weak and that of dying from it is even more so. In addition, residents find that the damage from contamination by COVID-19 is not serious, despite the non-compliance with barrier measures and the lack of special care in hospitals across the country. This perception of the risk by COVID-19 induces unwise behavior on the part of the Gabonese who do not find it useful to enforce the anti-COVID-19 measures imposed by the government on a young population, in a sunny country.