More Millennials Are Tested For COVID-19 But Are Least Likely To Quarantine

Sarasota, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) – Lab data company Testing.com and international research data and analytics company YouGov recently partnered in a survey of 1,209 adult participants. The survey asked individuals about their quarantine behaviors and if they were following the national guidelines for COVID-19. The study provided some enlightening insights on behavioral differences between generations in their response to the pandemic. The participants were categorized into three common age groups, Millennials aged 18 to 34, GenXers aged 35 to 54, and baby boomers aged 55 and over.

Studies indicate that up to 25 percent of individuals that have tested positive for coronavirus have been asymptomatic. According to a Healthline report, as high as 50 percent may show no symptoms, thus the reason measures such as social distancing and self-quarantining are so important for an infection that can take two to six weeks to recover from.  It seems however that younger adults do not have the same attitude as older adults in regards to behaviors to prevent infection.

Studies from the CDC indicate that the fatality rate increases with the age of the patient. The death rates in persons over the age of 85 has been as high as 10 to 17 percent in that age group. By contrast, the death rate in ages 18 to 54 have been as low as 1%.  In an April 25^th week-ending report from the CDC, the number of deaths for ages 15 to 24 was 28 totals, for ages 25 to 34 the total number of deaths due to COVID-19 was 220. In comparison, the number of deaths for those aged 85 and over was 8,210.

According to the Testing.com survey, younger individuals have not necessarily changed their behavior even though they may be key to helping stop the spread of the infection. Of those individuals aged 18 to 34, 11.6 percent indicated that they had not changed their routine at all, while 8.9 percent of those aged 35 to 54 and 7.6 of those over the age of 55 have not changed their routines.

As mentioned earlier, health officials have indicated that millennials are key to stopping the spread of infection, and while more millennials have attempted to get tested than baby boomers and GenXers combined, a whopping 31 percent indicated that they would still leave their home if they exhibited coronavirus symptoms. In fact, 8.4 percent indicated that they would not change their daily routines at all and 5.7 percent stated that they would do non-essential activities. Seventeen percent of millennials stated that they would still go out for essential reasons only if they had coronavirus symptoms. If tested positive, one in four millennials stated they would still not self- quarantine.

By comparison, the older age groups were over twice as likely to completely quarantine if they had symptoms of COVID-19. A total of 75 percent of those individuals aged 35 to 54 and 85.6 percent of those over the age of 55 stated they would stay home if they had COVID-19 symptoms.

It’s interesting to note that while millennials are least likely to change their behavior even in the light of a potential infection, they are also the most likely group to get tested. Ten percent of millennials have attempted to get tested and 7.1 percent have been tested. Only 4.5 percent of the GenX and 1.3 percent of the baby boomer populations have attempted to get tested. Of those that were tested, 3.5 percent were in the GenX age group and .7 percent were baby boomers.

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