With the worsening COVID-19 situation dominating headlines across the country, dQ&A has been asking its USA patient community some questions about how the crisis has affected them so far.
It seems that the diabetes community is on high alert. The vast majority (83%) of the dQ&A Community is either somewhat or very concerned about COVID-19’s possible effect on their personal health. Slightly more (88%) are concerned about the impact on family and friends.
Of those who work, 58% are worried about the impact on their employment. Although working from home is being widely recommended, we note that just over a third of people with type 1 diabetes and half of people with type 2 diabetes say that they cannot do their job from home. Of those who can, almost half (47%) have switched to working from home. No doubt that figure will continue to rise.
Most people are already taking steps to reduce their exposure to the virus, including avoiding events with large crowds, canceling travel and social events, and stocking up on food and household supplies.
Around 40% of adults with type 1 diabetes have stocked up on diabetes supplies (61% for parents of children with type 1), but only 18% of people with type 2 diabetes have done so.
Alarmingly, one in five people with type 2 say that they have taken no steps to reduce their exposure – a figure that projects to almost 6 million individuals.
These data were collected between March 12th and 15th. A short report highlighting our key findings is available here.
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