From Lockdown 1.0 to Unlock 1.0: 166% rise in number of Indians that are feeling anxious or worried

79% citizens feel that Unlock 1.0 will lead to significant uptick in cases

This means that 79% citizens feel that unlock 1.0 will lead to a significant uptick in COVID-19 cases in India. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi have so far been leading the infamous chart of having the most number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

People feel that enough testing is not being done by the Government due to which a large number of cases are still going unnoticed. LocalCircles received several complaints where an asymptomatic individual was denied testing with reasons cited as we don’t have enough kits or that they have been told only to test people with severe symptoms. Some citizens are increasingly feeling that the daily positive cases being reported are being controlled by some local administrations and State Governments by reducing the number of tests conducted so their district or state doesn’t have to report high numbers.

With Unlock 1.0, the in-person interactions with colleagues, neighbours, service providers, business partners, extended family, friends and others have increased or will increase. People were also asked what best describes how they currently feel. 56% said they were anxious or worried, 1% said they were bored, 10% said they were thankful, 25% said they were calm or peaceful, while 4% said they were excited.

With Unlock 1.0, 56% Indians are feeling anxious or worried

After the migration of workers from bigger cities to their native places, new cases are increasingly getting reported from rural areas. The comparison of the current numbers with those from early April when Lockdown 1.0 was in place pan India, show that the percentage of citizens that are feeling worried or anxious has risen by 166% between Lockdown 1.0 and Unlock 1.0, which shows the state of mental trauma and agony the fear of catching the virus coupled with testing and hospital accessibility is making people go through.

Percentage of citizens that are feeling worried or anxious rises by 166% between Lockdown 1.0 and Unlock 1.0

The situation in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai seems to be the worst as reported by citizens in these cities. On one hand the State Governments are found saying that they have enough beds, the reality experienced by citizens is reported to be somewhat different. In several hospitals of Mumbai, there is major shortage of staff and hence a bed is not useful if a patient on it can’t be serviced or cared for. In Delhi, several cases have come to light where the helplines could not be reached, the hospitals bed availability was drastically different than what was advised on the helpline or the website of Delhi Government. Some private hospitals have also been reported to charge an upfront amount of 3 lakhs before even admission despite the various Government advisories and orders. Several State Governments have reportedly started directing people to home quarantine for Covid-19 patients with no or very mild symptoms in a bid to ensure that enough beds are available for critical care patients.

The survey results clearly point to the fact that with the Central and State Governments implementing Unlock 1.0, 56% citizens are feeling worried or anxious, a 166% rise from how they felt in early April during Lockdown 1.0. The need to the hour is for Government to evaluate if Unlock 1.0 makes sense for every district or the high virus load districts like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, etc. must be treated differently. Also, a serious plan needs to be drawn upon how the healthcare system should be scaled effectively if the daily case load rises from 11,000 to 20,000 within a few weeks. A clear message also needs to be put out stating “the lockdown has ended, the pandemic hasn’t and its getting worse” for there is a sizable group who feels Corona has ended with the lockdown ending.

Survey Demographics

17,000+ responses were received from 211 districts of India. 61% respondents were men while 39% respondents were women. 47% respondents were from tier 1, 34% from tier 2 and 19% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts. They survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform and all participants are validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.