COVID-19 second wave | Health, job and children's education: What urban Indians are more worried about

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Amid the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, urban Indians are more worried about their health and slightly less worried about their finances as compared to the situation a year ago.

According to a survey by YouGov conducted among 1,500 urban Indians, around 68 percent said they were worried about friends or family members becoming seriously sick or dying. That number was around 56 percent in May 2020 – just a few months after the pandemic started.

About 68 percent said that they were worried about their finances being severely affected. That figure was slightly higher at 71 percent during the same time last year.

As many as 73 percent of respondents said that they worry about the COVID-19 pandemic having negative long-term effects on society. Though, that number remained unchanged since last year.

Personal health concerns soar

However, the number of respondents saying that they were worried about themselves becoming seriously ill or dying due to the novel coronavirus infection increased significantly – from 45 percent in May 2020 to 64 percent now.

Urban Indians have also become increasingly worried about the possibility of losing their job. The number of respondents who said losing employment was a matter of concern for them stood at 54 percent, as compared to 45 percent a year ago.

Similarly, the number of respondents who said they were worried about their children's education suffering had also increased.

The survey suggests that public trust had fallen when it came to trusting what was being said by healthcare professionals, the government, friends and family, and the media.

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India, one of the worst affected countries due to the pandemic, is battling the second wave of COVID-19 infections. As of May 31, the country had reported 2.80 crore COVID-19 cases. While 2.56 crore patients had recovered, 20.26 lakh cases remained ‘active’. The death toll from the outbreak stood at 3.29 lakh.

While daily infections had fallen since mid-May, the impact of lockdown-like restrictions imposed across most states to curb the further spread of the infectious disease has caused widespread economic disruption.

While rapid mass vaccination of the population is being seen as the only way to end the pandemic and return to normalcy, a severe shortage of COVID-19 vaccine doses has hampered the inoculation drive in most states – further slowing the reopening process.

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