World may recover from COVID-19 in 6 to 12 months says survey

New Delhi, Apr 01: Around 84 per cent of people feel the world will recover from the COVID-19 pandemic in 6-12 months, a survey said.

Covid-19 is leading the list of diseases people are extremely concerned about, followed by cancer and HIV/AIDS, according to the study by market research and analysis company Velocity MR.

The sample size of the study was 2,100 and the data was collected between March 19 and 20 through an online survey among the consumer panel of Markelytics (Velocity MR is the full-service arm of Markelytics).

About 84 per cent of the respondents were optimistic that the world will recover from COVID-19 in the next 6 months to 1 year.

The study also revealed that many could not make changes in their day-to-day activities even if they wanted to. Around 58 per cent respondents said they could not buy groceries and daily essentials during non-peak hours, 46 per cent said they could not avoid travelling for work-related purposes and 25 per cent said they were not given the provision to work from home by their organisations.

"What is heartening to see is that the majority is working towards combating this novel virus. Our survey shows that as a precautionary measure 81 per cent have started washing their hands more frequently than before, 78 per cent have started avoiding crowded places as and when possible.

"Another important highlight of the study is that this change in lifestyle is most likely to stay, as 72 per cent feel that they will be more cautious and responsible while travelling abroad in the future," Velocity MR Managing Director and CEO Jasal Shah said.

Most respondents felt that some changes in habits will prevail even after the COVID-19 pandemic.

About 71 per cent said habits like social greetings (handshakes, hugging, among others) will be avoided for some time even after the pandemic.