Indians believe Modi handled Covid well, other nations face widespread disapproval — survey

In a survey of 26,000 people across 25 nations, respondents say global spread of Covid could have been prevented if China had reacted quicker.

File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi| PTI

New Delhi: Every three out of four Indians believe Prime Minister Narendra Modi handled the coronavirus pandemic well, a new global survey has revealed.

The survey, however, also showed that 65 per cent Indians think the general spread of the virus could have been contained if the Modi government had reacted differently when reports of the novel coronavirus first emerged from China.

In sharp contrast, people in many of the 24 other countries surveyed believe their governments failed to respond well or fast enough to contain the spread of the disease.

The survey was conducted among 26,000 people across 25 countries by the YouGov Cambridge Globalism Project 2020 between 30 July and 24 August including in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, US, Canada, Brazil, China and Japan among others.

Respondents across 25 countries agreed that the global spread of the virus could have been prevented if the Chinese government had reacted quicker to the virus.

Indians satisfied with Modi government’s performance

Unlike those surveyed in other countries, 75 per cent of the 1,068 respondents in India said they were happy with the Modi government’s handling of the pandemic. While 21 per cent thought otherwise, 4 per cent said they don’t know if he handled the crisis well.

Moreover, 49 per cent said the Modi government struck the right balance between limiting the spread of the virus and allowing ordinary life to function while 24 per cent said it put too much emphasis on allowing ordinary life to function and 21 per cent said it focused too much on containing the virus.

Just over half the respondents said the government hasn’t been too restrictive on people’s freedoms.

Four out of five Indians also advocated the use of masks to contain the spread of the disease inside shops, airports and public transport.

Disapproval for govts in most countries

The survey showed people in other countries are not as satisfied with their governments on Covid management.

“Only 34% of people surveyed in the US, 36% in Spain, 37% in France and 39% in the UK and Brazil thought their governments had performed well. Death tolls in these countries are among the highest in the world: 686 per million in the US, 735 in Spain, 521 in France, 649 in the UK and 730 in Brazil,” said The Guardian, which designed the survey.

The survey also found an anomaly in Japan, where despite 13 deaths per million population, only 21 per cent said their government performed well in the pandemic.

Other countries happy with response

On the other end of the spectrum, respondents from Denmark (80 per cent), Australia (74 per cent), Greece (70 per cent) and Germany (64 per cent) said they were happy with their government’s performance.

While Denmark and Germany managed to limit the death toll to 119 per million population, Australia and Greece also managed to contain the toll to 35 and 51 per million population, respectively.

However, there were some exceptions. Respondents in Italy (61 per cent) and Sweden (47 per cent), which have reported high mortality rates, too said their governments handled the crisis well.