According to the survey by the consumer protection association, carried out between 16 and 20 July, despite the reopening of most services and the return to work for part of the population, respondents continue to express a fear of returning to their routines before the beginning of the crisis caused by the new coronavirus.

More than three-quarters of the 1006 respondents, between 18 and 74 years old, declare that they have avoided or even stopped using public spaces, such as restaurants, public transport or shopping centres, while more than half cancelled or postponed holidays and half postponed projects initially scheduled for this year, such as buying a house or a new car.

The survey shows that supermarkets were the commercial establishments that suffered the least drop in demand, which, for Deco, shows that the Portuguese "mainly used to basic services".

At the same time, for travel, respondents said they sought to use more private vehicles, such as cars or motorbikes.

The study also shows that fear of infection led respondents to avoid certain services, namely public transport: three-quarters of the responses classified them as unsafe due to the risk of contagion.

More than half of the respondents expressed the same feeling regarding sports centres, shops, restaurants and cultural events.

The study shows that 43 percent of the respondents postponed at least one planned investments and no longer intend to do so by the end of this year. In contrast, 43 percent postponed at least one of them, but claim to intend to do so later this year.

Concerning holidays, more than half of the respondents indicated that they will enjoy less than expected and about one in five say they will stay at home.

The same percentage states that they will not spend money on the holidays and 48 percent will choose to take holidays in Portugal with only 20 percent travelling abroad.

Also related to tourism, more than three-quarters of respondents consider that travel by plane, bus or train poses a high risk of contagion and more than half do not trust security measures in hotels and holiday accommodation.

In total, 68 percent of the respondents reported that the covid-19 pandemic crisis affected their summer holidays.