Volunteer Sample – Survey 1
There were 46,974 responses between Saturday, March 21, 2020 and Sunday, March 22, 2020. Of the responses, 45,691 (97%) were from zip codes within the state of Michigan and responses were received from all 83 counties (Figure 3A).
Volunteer Sample – Survey 2
There were 8,705 responses between Saturday, March 28, 2020, and Sunday, March 29, 2020. Of the responses, 8,512 (97%) were from zip codes within the state of Michigan and responses were received from 75 counties in Michigan (Figure 3B).
Characteristics of respondents – Surveys 1 and 2
Characteristics of the respondents are presented in Table 1. For both surveys, the majority of respondents were women (86% in Survey 1 and 87% in Survey 2). Respondents in Survey 1 were slightly younger (mean age 42.7 ± 12.8 years) than respondents in Survey 2 (mean age 45.9 ± 12.9 years). Similarly, the number of days people stayed home from work all 5 days increased from Survey 1 to 2 from 54% to 70%, and there was an increase in the proportion of people spending zero days in small social gatherings (< 10 people) from Survey 1 to 2 from 82% to 93%. In Survey 2, questions on factors related directly to the ability to partake in social distancing were asked; 32% of respondents reported being required to leave home for work and 8% reported they provided care for someone outside their home.
Social Distancing - Surveys 1 and 2
In Survey 1, 63% of people reported higher social distancing (staying home at least 3 out of the 5 previous days) and this increased to 78% in Survey 2. Estimated Rt also decreased following the state-level executive orders for social distancing (Figure 1). In both surveys, the proportion of respondents reporting higher social distancing varied by county of residence. Of counties with at least 10 respondents, in Survey 1 the proportion of people saying they stayed home at least 3 of the last 5 days ranged from 34% to 78% across the state (Figure 4A) and in Survey 2 this ranged from 52% to 91% across the state (Figure 4B).
Table 2 presents the associations of respondent characteristics with higher social distancing. For the multivariable model in Survey 1, female sex (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.74, 95% CI 1.65, 1.84), increasing age (aOR = 1.05, 95% CI 1.04, 1.06; per 5-year increase in age), and having someone (or self) sick in the home (aOR = 1.23, 95% CI 1.16, 1.31) were positively associated with higher social distancing, while smoking in the home (aOR = 0.69, 95% CI 0.65, 0.72) was the sole variable inversely associated with higher social distancing. Results were similar for Survey 2, with female sex (aOR = 1.49, 95% CI 1.27, 1.73) and the respondent being sick with COVID-19 symptoms (aOR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.09, 1.67) positively associated with higher social distancing. In contrast to Survey 1, however, increasing age (aOR = 0.95; 95% CI 0.93, 0.96; per 5-unit increase in age) was negatively associated with higher social distancing. Additionally, in Survey 2, being an essential worker was negatively associated with higher social distancing (aOR = 0.14, 95% 0.13, 0.16). Recent travel and number of people in the home were not associated with social distancing in either survey, and in Survey 2, there was no association of caregiving with social distancing (all P > 0.10).
Attitude on Likelihood of Social Distancing and Social Distancing Policies
The majority of respondents anticipated that they would have less social interaction in the next 5 days (68% in Survey 1 and 52% in Survey 2; Table 1). In Survey 1, respondents were asked their opinion on the governmental shutdown of gathering places; most felt this was important (88%), 10% felt it was helpful, 1% felt this was not helpful and 1% felt it was harmful (Table 1). In Survey 2, a similar question was asked about the Michigan Stay Home, Stay Safe executive order, and again, the majority (91%) felt it was important, 7% felt it was helpful, 1% felt it was not helpful and 1% felt it was harmful (Table 1).