New Delhi: As much as 74 per cent of Delhi’s residents are keen to have some kind of shutdown of markets and non-essential shops in the national capital to contain the spread of Covid-19, a pan-India survey conducted by Local Circles, a community social media platform, has found.
The survey was conducted between 16 and 18 November and received 20,000 responses from 241 districts. Of these, 53 per cent respondents were from tier 1 cities, 23 per cent from tier 2, and 24 per cent were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts.
34% Delhiites want full lockdown
According to the survey report released Wednesday, 34 per cent of Delhi residents voted for a full lockdown while 40 per cent supported a three-week shutdown of markets and non-essential shops and services.
The Delhi specific questions had received 10,000 responses from residents across 11 districts. Of them, 66 per cent were men and 34 per cent women. Twenty four per cent opted for no lockdown, but said the solution lies in aggressive testing, tracing and isolation. They were asked: “Given the shortage of Covid-19 ICU and Covid-19 beds, what should be Delhi’s approach to contain the spread of Covid-19 now?”
The remaining 2 per cent didn’t have an opinion.
The survey report also mentioned that globally, Delhi is now among the top three cities in terms of daily caseloads. With Diwali witnessing overcrowding of markets and more socialising, the Delhi government expects the daily caseload to surge to 10,000-15,000 in the coming weeks.
“The challenge in front of the administrators is not just the current shortage of Covid ICU beds, but even then Covid beds and medical staff may lead to another health crisis,” said the report.
Also read: As Covid cases spike again, Delhi govt tells hospitals to be prepared for dengue, malaria too
Residents vote for localised lockdowns
At the national level, respondents suggested lockdowns wherever there was a surge in Covid-19 cases or if active cases crossed 1,000 in a city or 10,000 in a state.
Of these respondents, 67 per cent were men and 33 per cent were women, while 53 per cent were from tier 1 cities, 23 per cent from tier 2 and 24 per cent from tier 3, 4 and other districts.
The survey also included questions to understand people’s view of the economic implications of the pandemic on India in case of a national, state or local lockdown for three weeks. Of the 7,227 responses to this question, 60 per cent felt a lockdown of any kind will lead to short or medium term setback and was overall not worth it. Thirty eight per cent said though it will lead to a short-term setback, it is worth enforcing a lockdown to contain the infection’s spread.
On the question: “What should be India’s approach to contain Covid-19 spread post the festival period?”, 51 per cent of the 12,818 responses were against any lockdown. However, they claimed that they wanted the government to up testing, tracing and isolation of Covid-19 patients. Forty six per cent of respondents said they were in favour of some form of national lockdown.
Also read: ‘Lockdown fatigue’ behind Delhi’s third Covid wave, experts call for behavioural change