Over 49% Believe COVID-19 Threat Is Exaggerated, 59.8% Feel Someone In Their Family May Get Infected

New Delhi: An unprecedented 49 per cent of people in India believe that the coronavirus threat is hyperbolised while 59.8 per cent people fear that someone in their family may get infected by COVID-19.

According to the IANS-CVoter Covid-19 Tracker with a sample size of 1,723, 49.3 per cent of people believe that the threat from the pathogen is exaggerated, while 41.2 per cent refute it. The poll was conducted on respondents from across the country between March 16 and July 22.

Interestingly, the day when the first lockdown was imposed, a lot more people felt the situation was exaggerated. On March 23, 53.4 per cent people thought the threat was over-amplified, while a mere 33.1 per cent believed it was grave.

Ten days after the country was put behind the doors, the number of people who believed in the gravity of the situation started increasing. On June 1, when the country was flung open as part of ‘Unlock 1.0', the percentage stood at 53.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, on the first day of ‘Unlock 2.0', which is still in the play, the percentage of such people came down a notch, at 48 per cent. On July 22, however, the percentage plummeted to 41.2 per cent.

Even though, the graph of people who believed that the situation was more overstated than the reality was at its peak at the start of the lockdown, it crashed down on May 9, and shot up again on and after June 8.

The data holds importance at a time the country is facing the wrath of the deadly virus, which has claimed over 30,000 lives and infected as many as 12 lakh Indians. India has also logged the world's third-largest case load, after the US and Brazil.

On the other hand, 59.8 per cent people say they are afraid that someone in their family may actually get contracted by the virus, as per the latest IANS CVoter Covid-19 Tracker.

According to the survey with a sample size of 1,723, when asked how strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement -- I am afraid that either myself or someone in my family may actually catch the coronavirus -- 59.9 per cent of the respondents agreed, while 34.9 per cent disagreed.

The response of the people indicates that the fear of contracting the viral infection looms large. The survey was conducted over the period of four months. Just a few days before the nationwide lockdown was imposed in March, many people apprehended that they were vulnerable to the viral infection, and from March 31 onwards, a trend emerged where people strongly agreed either they themselves or someone in their family may actually catch the virus.

This trend, where people apprehended catching the coronavirus, continued and a spike was observed in the period from March 31 to May 30. But since the beginning of June, when the country started witnessing a huge jump in daily Covid-19 numbers, people becoming fearful of Covid-19 increased further. The survey indicated that in July, many people apprehended that somebody in their family may catch the virus.

On the index of panic, the number of people who agreed that they are afraid that either they themselves or someone in their family may actually catch the virus has consistently increased from March 16 to July 20.

In the same index of panic, those who disagreed that they were afraid that someone in their family may actually catch the virus registered a spike on March 16, which consistently remained high till the last week of May.

But, from the beginning of June, this spike plunged and a consistent drop was observed till the third week of July. Therefore, the index of panic established that the net people who agree that someone in their family may get infected with Covid-19 remained consistently high between June 23 and July 20.

(IANS)

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