Older adults least fearful of contracting coronavirus: survey
Even as older adults are most likely to be at the receiving end of the pandemic, more than half (52 percent) of the baby boomers are the least fearful of contracting coronavirus, according to a survey.
Even as older adults are most likely to be at the receiving end of the pandemic, more than half (52 percent) of the baby boomers are the least fearful of contracting coronavirus, according to a survey.
The older generations of urban India seem to be the least fearful of contracting coronavirus, according to the survey by research firm YouGov survey.
Fear is notably lower among baby boomers, with more than half (52 percent) saying they are not fearful about getting infected, the survey showed.
These numbers are considerably higher than that of Gen Z and millennials at 37 percent and 32 percent, respectively, it said.
Baby boomer is a term used to describe a person who was born between 1946 and 1964, while Gen Z is the generation born between 1995 and 2015.
The data for the survey was collected online by YouGov Omnibus from around 1,054 respondents in India between March 10 and 15.
The survey also found that in general, more than half (53 percent) of urban Indians are scared about contracting coronavirus, while 38 percent are not worried.
Among the genders, fear levels are considerably higher among women compared to men (59 percent against 47 percent), it said.
When it comes to region, the survey showed that north India was the most panic-stricken, with three in five residents (61 percent) saying they were very scared or fairly scared about contracting the virus.
On the other hand, the western region seemed to be the least scared with less than half (46 percent) of the respondents claiming they are either not very scared or not at all scared about contracting it, it said.
Until the last two weeks, new cases were emerging from the northern and southern regions and fewer from the western parts of the country.
However, beginning this week, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases, which could be the reason for the low level of fears in the western region that might change in the coming weeks.
Majority of people are taking some kind of safety precautions to protect themselves, including washing hands more frequently or using sanitiser (69 percent), 59 percent of the respondents said they are avoiding crowded places, and 53 percent avoiding physical contact with tourists.
One in five (20 percent) have stopped sending children to school or child care and one in six (16 percent) have stopped going to work, it added.
(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)
