New Delhi: According to a survey by market research company IPSOS, only four out of 14 countries were in favour of reopening their economies despite the non-containment of the Covid-19 pandemic. These four countries were India, China, Italy and Russia.
China and Italy have been among the nations worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic (with more than 82,000 cases and more than 4,600 deaths in the former, and 2.1 lakh cases and nearly 30,000 death in the latter). But in these countries, 58 per cent and 53 per cent of the respondents, respectively, said they were in favour of reopening the economy while 51 per cent of the respondents in India (which has reported more than 42,000 cases and 1,568 deaths) said they were in favour of reopening the economy and businesses. Russia had the highest number of respondents (60 per cent) who were in favour of resuming business in the middle of the pandemic. The country has reported more than 1.4 lakh cases of the virus, and 1,356 deaths due to it.
The survey was conducted between 16 and 19 April and included more than 28,000 respondents in 14 countries: India, China, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, US, Brazil, Spain and Mexico.
The question asked was, “Should the economy and businesses resume even if the virus is not fully contained?”
Respondents in eight out of the 14 countries said no. This sentiment was highest in the UK and Canada (70 per cent). The UK has been badly affected by the virus, with almost 2 lakh cases reported so far, and almost 29,000 deaths.The numbers stood at 59 per cent in the US (which has reported more than 1.2 million cases, the highest number in the world, and close to 70,000 deaths), 65 per cent in Mexico and 61 per cent in both Spain and Australia.
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Nervous about leaving home
The survey also asked if people were nervous about leaving their homes in case the government decided to reopen the economy from the Covid-19 lockdown. People in 12 out of the 14 countries in the survey admitted that they would be nervous, with the largest number from India (78 per cent).
Other countries where people were nervous about leaving home, included Japan (77 per cent), China (72 per cent), the UK (71 per cent) and the US (67 per cent). Barring Japan, all these countries have seen high infection rates.
People in Germany were most optimistic about stepping out of their houses as only 44 per cent of the respondents said that they were nervous, while 49 per cent Italians said they would be nervous about leaving their homes if businesses reopened and travel resumed.
The coronavirus pandemic which broke out in Wuhan, China, in December has spread to more than 210 countries and territories, infecting more than 3.6 million people across the world and killing more 2.5 lakh people globally.
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