Despite the relaxation of Covid-related restrictions, the majority of Chinese people still don’t want to leave their apartments, according to a survey by Oliver Wyman.

According to a survey conducted over the weekend, more than 90% of consumers said they were staying home. For at least the upcoming few months, nearly 60% of respondents said they wouldn’t feel secure going out in public.

Early in December, mainland China abruptly lifted most restrictions that had been in place for months as a result of increasingly strict measures to contain Covid-19 outbreaks. In the meantime, Beijing saw an increase in infections, which spread to other cities like Shanghai. Fever clinic visits skyrocketed, placing additional strain on the already overburdened public health system.

“We observed that many high streets and shopping malls were deserted in December,” Kenneth Chow, principal, Oliver Wyman, said in an email this week.

“Due to increased infection, many businesses we spoke with expressed concerns over labor shortage as a significant portion of their staff have been off sick, and some are struggling to maintain their service level,” Chow said.

According to anecdotal evidence, even though a lot more people visited Beijing’s malls and attractions over the weekend, not all of the stores had yet to reopen. Venues weren’t exactly empty; they were just not as packed as they had been in the city of 22 million people before the pandemic.

According to Oliver Wyman, only 8% of surveyed consumers felt confident going out at this time.

4,500 Chinese adults over the age of 16 who lived in cities of all sizes and were weighted to be representative of China’s urban population were included in the study.

According to surveys the People’s Bank of China has conducted over the past 20 years, local interest in saving rather than spending has increased this year to record highs.

According to fourth-quarter results released Tuesday, nearly 62% of respondents said they preferred to save rather than spend money or make investments. Comparatively, 58% earlier this year.

According to the survey, those who intended to spend more were most interested in funding health care and education.

Additionally, the Oliver Wyman survey revealed that the majority of Chinese people are still wary despite data indicating a rise in travel interest.

The consulting company reported that less than one-fifth of respondents said they intended to travel during the upcoming Lunar New Year, which will be in late January, and noted that Chinese people were more interested in travel if they were wealthy.

The poll was taken, though, before China’s announcement on Monday that visitors to the mainland would no longer need to undergo quarantine.

(Adapted from CNBC.com)