A study by IIT Kharagpur on travel and social distancing perspectives on Indian citizens during coronavirus outbreak throws light on understanding people's preparedness in case of a lockdown.
The study sought to assess people's preparedness in case of a lockdown, their behaviour and evaluate the impact of travel restrictions and social distancing on their lives, an IIT Kharagpur statement said on Thursday.
The study was conducted by researchers at IIT Kharagpurs Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management, Department of Civil Engineering, and mentored by Professor Bhargab Maitra.
The research team comprised Dr Saurabh Dandapat, Dr Kinjal Bhattacharyya, Annam Sai Kiran and Kaustubh Saysardar.
The researchers covered 400-plus cities in 28 states and 4 union territories up to March 22.
The work will eventually help formulate potential strategic interventions and policy measures for combating any future events of similar nature, the statement said.
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The study also aims to formulate and assess the likely effectiveness of different strategic interventions pertaining to travel and social distancing for minimising the spread of COVID-19.
Explaining the need for the lockdown, Maitra said, It was alarming to note that nearly 20 per cent respondents expressed their desire to leave the current city of work in case of the announcement of city lockdown.
Such acts would increase the risk of spread of COVID- 19 in other places and therefore, justify the action taken by the Government of India in terms of one day Janata Curfew and successive lockdown of several cities and towns by various state governments, Maitra said.
However, a positive indication in the report is the steady rise in the number of respondents opting to work from home from less than 40 per cent to over 75 per cent within a weeks time.
Another positive note is that the study showed a significant share of respondents (over 30 per cent) were aware of possible city quarantine and were getting prepared for it," he said.
The Janata Curfew was a positive step for building further awareness and preparedness about quarantine, and provided a doorway for implementation of lockdown in several states, said researcher Dr Saurabh Dandapat.
They also observed that the awareness among the people about the risk of travel in public transport has increased over the time, possibly due to strong campaigns carried out by the governments and wide coverage of COVID-19 cases by the media.
Data reflect that while on 17th of March 2020 only about 60 per cent respondents were considering cancellation/postponing long-distance travel for various purposes such as healthcare, work, family/social, and vacation, the share increased to 75 per cent on March 22, Dandapat said.
Although this indicates a positive attitude, however, a significant share of respondents were still planning to travel which might increase the risk of spreading the virus, another researcher, Dr Kinjal Bhattacharyya, said.
The researchers Annam Sai Kiran and Kaustubh Saysardar recommended creating more awareness among a section of citizens about the need for the lockdown.
Based on the recent lockdowns and other efforts being taken by the central and state governments, the questionnaire has now been updated to understand the perceptions and reactions of the citizens under current scenario and provide further inputs which might be of help to the government to make further informed decisions.
The respondents were asked to provide details about their regular travel, travel pattern during the coronavirus outbreak, their perception about safety against the spread of coronavirus during travel in different modes, the impact of the travel restrictions on different aspects of their lives, their travel plans in case of lockdown of cities and during the initial period.