Bengaluru, March 31 (IANS) Nearly 84 per cent Indians feel that recovery from new coronavirus epidemic will take 6 months to one year time, a new survey said on Tuesday.

Out of 94 per cent respondents who are aware about the COVID-19 disease, 75 per cent are extremely concerned about the disease while only 52 per cent are aware of the virus type spreading the disease, said the survey from market research and analysis firm Velocity MR.

The survey involving 2,100 people was conducted in cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.

While 70 per cent respondents feel older people and also people with pre-existing conditions are more vulnerable to be infected by the virus. However, 63 per cent said this can be tackled with if proper hygiene and necessary precautions are taken.

"The survey shows that as a precautionary measure, 81 per cent people have started washing their hands more frequently than before and 78 per cent have started avoiding crowded places as and when possible," said Jasal Shah, Managing Director and CEO, Velocity MR.

Another important highlight is that 72 per cent of those surveyed said they will be more cautious and responsible while travelling abroad in future.

The survey also found that many could not make changes in their day-to-day activities even if they wanted to.

While 58 per cent mentioned that they could not buy groceries and daily essentials during non-peak hours, 46 per cent could not avoid travelling for work-related purposes and 25 per cent were not given the provision to work from home by their organisations.

The respondents rely on television, social media, online websites and newspaper (in order) to get information about COVID-19.
The general opinion among the respondents was that the travel and tourism sector has been hit the most with 51 per cent of the respondents having to cancel their trips in the last one month.

--IANS na/