New Delhi, May 3 (IANS): Amidst the coronavirus outbreak, which has wreaked havoc in the country, trust in government hospitals has increased drastically, the IANS-CVoter survey revealed on Sunday.

According to the survey conducted across the country, in 2018, merely 37.6 per cent people had a "lot of trust" in government hospitals but the percentage skyrocketed to 52.8 per cent this year.

Similarly, people's faith in private hospitals has also increased, though marginally. In 2018, 34.1 per cent of people used to trust them for treatment, but the percentage now stands at 38.2 per cent, according to the survey.

This dramatic change in trust could be attributed to efforts and risk taken by medical staff to treat infected people during the outbreak.

Correspondingly, the number of Indians who display lack of trust in these institutions has fallen dramatically.

In 2018, 1.6 and 41.3 per cent people used to have no faith in government and private hospitals, respectively. The percentage has, however, now plummeted to 0.8 per cent and 20.6 per cent now.

The change is visible across all geographies, income and education levels as well as caste and ethnic identities.

According to the survey, females, senior citizens, those living in the southern part of the country, rural areas and belonging to lower income groups trust government hospitals more.

On the other hand, the population below 25 years of age, lower income group and those residing in western part of India and urban areas trust private hospitals for their medical treatment.