COVID-19 SOPs compliance going down the drain: Survey

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: A latest Nationwide survey conducted by Ipsos Pakistan has revealed that Pakistanis despite attaining universal awareness about COVID-19 in April were not adhering to the Standard Operating Procedures which may worsen the situation in days ahead. “Quite worryingly, after attaining universal awareness of COVID-19 in April, Pakistanis seem to start forgetting it. Similarly, perceived level of threat and preventive measures’ compliance is going down significantly†, the findings of the survey disclosed.
According to the survey, despite high awareness, only 50 pe cent of Pakistanis feel concerned about the spread of virus and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the most nervous province about the pandemic. There here was also a decline in people’s perception of a ‘complete lockdown’ across all provinces and more drop was witnessed in Sindh and Balochistan, it added. The survey also revealed that amid coronavirus, majority of Pakistanis did not intend to buy new stuff on Eid ul Fitr, mainly belonging from lower income groups and rural areas.
Some 80 percent of the Pakistanis think that economic activity and businesses should reopen even if the virus was not fully contained which was highest among all 15 surveyed countries. Similarly, 80 per cent Pakistanis expect things would return back to normalcy by June and were quite optimistic that economy would recover quickly once the lockdown was over.
However, interestingly, like other countries,majority of Pakistanis feel nervous about leaving homes when businesses re-open and travels resume. About 80 percent Pakistanis think COVID-19 will negatively affect their jobs or businesses but majority of Pakistanis were unlikely to learn any new skill during lock down period. About 70 per cent Pakistanis think they will become closer to family, friends and relatives as a result of COVID-19 crisis.
The survey noted that 50 per cent Pakistanis were offering Taraveeh prayers at homes, and 30 percent going to mosques. Despite limited knowledge of precise Standard Operating Procedures for mosques, 80 per cent Pakistani believe that SOPs in mosques, were being followed, it further disclosed. For Pakistanis local news channels and the religious places are the most reliable source of information regarding COVID-19 while 33.3 percent Pakistanis show lack of confidence on social media platforms.
Over the past month, there is decline in confidence on social media amid fewer discussions of the topic. Sample size of the snap poll was over 1,000 with 58 per cent from Punjab, 22 percent from Sindh, 14 percent from KPK, 4 per cent from Balochistan and three per cent from Azad Kashmir. Seventy per cent of the participants were male while remaining 30 per cent were female.