New Delhi, July 23 The fear of coronavirus runs deep in the psyche of the people, as 59.8 per cent of the people say they are afraid that someone in their family may actually get contracted by the virus, as per the latest CVoter Covid-19 Tracker.
According to the survey with a sample size of 1,723, when asked how strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement I am afraid that either myself or someone in my family may actually catch the coronavirus 59.9 per cent of the respondents agreed, while 34.9 per cent disagreed.
The response of the people indicates that the fear of contracting the viral infection looms large. The survey was conducted over the period of four months. Just a few days before the nationwide lockdown was imposed in March, many people apprehended that they were vulnerable to the viral infection, and from March 31 onwards, a trend emerged where people strongly agreed either they themselves or someone in their family may actually catch the virus.
This trend, where people apprehended catching the coronavirus, continued and a spike was observed in the period from March 31 to May 30. But since the beginning of June, when the country started witnessing a huge jump in daily Covid-19 numbers, people becoming fearful of Covid-19 increased further. The survey indicated that in July, many people apprehended that somebody in their family may catch the virus.
On the index of panic, the number of people who agreed that they are afraid that either they themselves or someone in their family may actually catch the virus have consistently increased from March 16 to July 20.
In the same index of panic, those who disagreed that they were afraid that someone in their family may actually catch the virus registered a spike on March 16, which consistently remained high till the last week of May.
But, from beginning of June, this spike plunged and a consistent drop was observed till the third week of July. Therefore, the index of panic established that the nett people who agree that someone in their family may get infected with Covid-19 remained consistently high between June 23 and July 20.
( With inputs from IANS )