New Delhi, Mar 30 (IANS): An unprecedented 87.2 per cent of Indians have become vigilant towards their personal hygiene at a time when the world is facing the wrath of deadly coronavirus which spreads through coughing and sneezing.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the virus transmits through droplets of saliva and discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes. One must clean their hands and avoid close-contact in order to protect themselves.

The net outcome came out in a second survey conducted by IANS C-VOTER Gallup International Association Corona Tracker.

In the poll, a question -- Have you become more vigilant towards cleanliness? -- was put forth before Indians during the last one week.

A whopping 87.2 per cent divulged that they are paying more attention to their hygiene, while 12.8 per cent disagreed with it.

A similar survey was conducted in the midst of this month, which had revealed that only 71.5 per cent were keen on maintaining their cleanliness.

The current poll, therefore, shows an increase in 15 per cent and depicts that people have become more aware.

The awareness could be attributed to spike in number of positive cases and subsequent lockdown imposed by the government in the country.

In the wake of wide-spread pandemic, hand-sanitisers and other personal hygiene stuff have also flown off the shelves.

The total number of positive cases in India have surged past 1,000, with 28 deaths. The virus has claimed over 33,000 lives globally and infected over six lakh people.