New Delhi, Jun 15 (IANS): As many as 74 per cent of the citizens believe that a one-month complete lockdown in high virus load districts is needed to contain the Covid-19 spread in India, according to a LocalCircles survey.

LocalCircles poll in 14 high virus load districts suggest that majority of the citizens in these districts are in favour of a one month complete lockdown.

With the average number of Covid-19 cases in India rising to approximately 11,000 per day, and the health infrastructure unable to cope up in most places, people were asked if they believed that a complete one month lockdown needs to be implemented in the top 15 high virus load districts which currently contribute 64 per cent of the cases in India. As many as 74 per cent of the respondents answered in a yes, while 22 per cent answered in a no.

This shows that majority citizens believe a one-month complete lockdown in the 15 high virus load districts is needed to contain the Covid-19 spread in India. While people continue to be fully supportive of getting economic activity going in green and orange zones, the view for high virus load districts is clearly different and that of imposing restrictions.

According to the people, the only thing that should move in these districts is essential goods to people and all activities, including opening of offices, non-essential factories must be kept shut.

People in mid-May were supportive of relaxations in high virus load districts but looking at the rapid rise in cases and the poor state of health infrastructure has led to people changing their opinions.

The top 15 districts with highest virus load as identified by Niti Aayog include Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Thane, Pune, Indore, Kolkata, Jaipur, Surat, Hyderabad, Aurangabad, Jodhpur, Gurugram and Chengalpattu.

LocalCircles asked citizens in 14 of the high virus load districts whether a one month complete lockdown is needed in their respective district at this junction to contain the spread of Covid-19, percentage of citizens that responded with a yes were Delhi (79 per cent), Mumbai (64 per cent), Chennai (61 per cent), Ahmedabad (73 per cent), Thane (50 per cent), Pune (60 per cent), Indore (67 per cent), Kolkata (52 per cent), Gurugram (59 per cent), Jaipur (53 per cent), Surat (57 per cent), Aurangabad (80 per cent) and Jodhpur (75 per cent).

This clearly indicates that majority of the people who live in these districts feel a complete lockdown is the need of the hour to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The citizens were also asked what should be the approach to contain Covid-19 spread in the districts with week over week case growth and over 100 active cases.

In response, 23 per cent said that there should be a complete lockdown while 59 per cent said there should be a partial lockdown where all public places are shut. Fourteen per cent said there should be no lockdown at all in such districts.

While proactive testing is limited in most parts of the country, hundreds of cases have been reported from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai where people have struggled to get a test done, get results in time, find an ICU bed and secure admission. Mumbai and Delhi have also reported shortage of healthcare workers, broken processes to access beds as well as overcharging by private hospitals.