A latest survy by YouGov has revealed that the older generations of urban Indians seem to be least fearful of contracting coronavirus as compared to other generations.
According to YouGov’s ongoing coronavirus tracker that captures public sentiment and behaviour around COVID-19, 44 per cent GenX respondents surveyed between 10th and 15th March, said they are not at all or not very scared about contracting the coronavirus.
Fear is notably lower among baby boomers, with more than half (52 per cent) saying they are not fearful about getting infected. These numbers are considerably higher than the number of GenZ and millennials saying this – at 37 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively.
On the contrary, there seems to be more fright among the younger adults. More than half of GenZ and millennials respondents said they are ‘very scared’ or ‘fairly scared’ about contracting the coronavirus – at 52 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively, which is notably higher than the numbers for GenX and baby boomers saying this – at 48 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively.
In general, more than half (53 per cent) of urban Indians are scared about contracting coronavirus, while 38 per cent are not worried. Among the genders, fear levels are considerably higher for women as compared to men (59 per cent versus 47 per cent).
Amongst the different regions in India, northern India seems to be the most panic-stricken, with three in five residents saying (61 per cent) they are ‘very scared’ or ‘fairly scared’ about contracting the virus. On the other hand, western India seems to be the least scared with less than half (46 per cent) claiming they are either ‘not very scared’ or ‘not at all scared’ about contracting it. Until last two weeks, new cases were emerging from the north and south of India and fewer from the western parts of the country. However, starting this week, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases. This could be the reason for the low level of fears in the western region, which may change in the coming weeks.
The widespread level of fear explains the vast majority of people taking some kind of safety precautions to protect themselves. The most common precaution has been to improve personal hygiene, such as washing hands more frequently or using sanitiser, which seven in ten (69 per cent) are doing.
Three in five (59 per cent) people avoid crowded places, and slightly lesser (53 pedr cent) are avoiding physical contact with tourists, thirty seven per cent are avoiding public transport altogether. Many (46 per cent) are avoiding consumption of raw or uncooked meat while 37 per cent have given up eating meat or eggs in general.
One in five (20 per cent) have stopped sending children to school or child care and one in six (16 per cent) have stopped going to work themselves.
Given the vast media coverage on the issue, it is not surprising to see that nine in ten (89 per cent) Indians are aware of the coronavirus outbreak and have heard of either ‘coronavirus’, ‘Wuhan virus’ or ‘Covid-19’. The remaining 11 per cent, however, are still unaware of it.
Most (72 per cent) feel well-informed about what to do if they suspect they have coronavirus. But, one in five is not sure, with young Indians being especially likely to feel this way (27 per cent of GenZ respondents).
In the weeks to come, YouGov will continue to track public’s attitudes and opinions on Coronavirus across the globe.
The data have been collected online by YouGov Omnibus among around 1,054 respondents in India using YouGov’s panel of over eight million people worldwide.