The COVID-19 Pandemic and Changes in People's Social and Economic Behavior
Abstract
The Corona virus outbreak (COVID-19) that has occurred in Indonesia since
the beginning of March 2020 has forced most people to limit their activities. From
all lines of micro, small, to cooperatives, the pandemic very affected them.
In Bontang City (East Kalimantan – Indonesia), the government is trying to
make various efforts to reduce the impact of the corona virus by asking all parties
to do social distancing. Work From Home (WFH) and decide to cancel teaching and
learning activities. This policy will certainly impact changes in social and economic
behavior of the community, especially in Bontang City. This research uses a social
experimental approach to find out how much impact the COVID-19 has on changes
in social and economic behavior in Bontang. It supported objectivity through a
survey covering 500 units of respondents.
The results of the study show that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted
changes in people’s social behavior, including: 1) respondents understand and are
getting used to the new normal conditions in their activities although there is still
hope for conditions to return to normal soon; 2) respondents have no difficulty in
implementing the Health Protocol even though it is difficult to implement it in their
daily activities; 3) respondents are tiring of the pandemic; 4) Most respondents
agree and will participate in the COVID-19 vaccination program. Meanwhile,
changes in economic behavior conclude that out of 500 respondents, there are 480
respondents (96%) who are still working and 7 respondents (1.4%) are working
but temporarily laid off, were 55 respondents (31%) with increased expenditure on
prepared food/beverages during the pandemic, 85 respondents (17%) decreased
and 260 respondents remained (51.8%).