Anxiety over Covid-19 on the rise: Survey

Indians are getting more anxious and worried about the COVID-19 situation in the country amid a surge in the number of cases, according to a new survey.

While 21% felt anxious about the situation during the lockdown 1.0, the survey by LocalCircles said, the number has risen to 56% now with the government's announcement of 'Unlock 1.0'.

This is a 166% rise from how they felt in early April during lockdown 1.0.

"With the government now announcing unlocking of the country in three planned phases, citizens are getting anxious due to the growing numbers of Covid-19 cases," the survey, which covered around 17,000 people in 211 districts of the country.

The survey also said the need of the hour is for the government to evaluate if Unlock 1.0 makes sense for every place or the high virus load places like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, etc. must be treated differently.

"Also, a serious plan needs to be drawn upon how the healthcare system should be scaled effectively if the daily caseload rises from 11,000 to 20,000 within a few weeks. A clear message also needs to be put out stating 'the lockdown has ended, the pandemic hasn’t and its getting worse” for there is a sizable group who feels Covid-19 has ended with the lockdown ends," it said.

To a question on how they felt about opening up of most activities, the survey said 27% were of the view that it will likely lead to a significant uptick in cases and complete lockdown should have been implemented in high virus load districts while 52% said it will likely lead to a significant uptick in cases but we as a nation do not have the option of staying locked any more.

According to the survey, 12% said that the peak is almost here, and cases will reduce from here so unlocking makes sense. Only 6% said that there should not have been any lockdown in the first place at all and just learned to live with the risk of the virus.

"This means that 79% of citizens feel that unlock 1.0 will lead to a significant uptick in COVID-19 cases in India," it said.

The survey said the situation in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai seems to be the worst as reported by citizens in these cities. On one hand, the state governments are found saying that they have enough beds, the reality experienced by citizens is reported to be somewhat different, it claimed.

"In several hospitals in Mumbai, there is a major shortage of staff and hence a bed is not useful if a patient on it can’t be serviced or cared for. In Delhi, several cases have come to light where the helplines could not be reached, the hospital bed availability was drastically different than what was advised on the helpline or the website of Delhi government. Some private hospitals have also been reported to charge an upfront amount of three lakhs before even admission despite the various government advisories and orders," it added.