01 November,2021 09:06 AM IST | New Delhi | Agencies
Missing masks at a campaign rally for 2022 UP Assembly polls. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav during ‘vijay rath yatra’ in Hardoi on Sunday. Pic/PTI
As the country gets ready to celebrate Diwali, only 2 per cent of Indians think that masking compliance around them is effective, while only 3 per cent feel that people in their localities and districts are following the physical distancing norm, according to a survey by LocalCircles, a digital community-based platform. It received over 39,000 responses from over 20,000 citizens in 366 districts, to find how people are complying with masking and distancing protocols during the festive season and travel. Forty-seven per cent of respondents were from tier 1 districts, 30 per cent from tier 2 districts and 23 per cent from tier 3, 4 and rural districts.
On masking, it found that only 2 per cent [down from 13 per cent in September] of respondents said "over 90 per cent" people in their area are compliant. Only 16 per cent [down from 30 per cent in September] respondents said masking compliance is effective at airports, stations and bus stands, etc. Just 3 per cent [down from 6 per cent in September] of respondents said physical distancing compliance is effective in their area, district or city and 9 per cent said physical distancing compliance during travel is non-existent now.
"The drop in masking compliance ratings from 29 per cent in June to 2 per cent now and in physical distancing compliance ratings from 11 per cent in June to 3 per cent now indicates that the vast majority of Indians believe that masking and physical distancing compliance are practically non-existent in most of the country," said Sachin Taparia, founder of LocalCircles.
Similarly, on the travel front, physical distancing compliance is extremely poor, with many citizens raising complaints on LocalCircles about the poor enforcement of the norm at security check, boarding and in buses at airports, like Delhi and Mumbai, he said. Diwali markets, fairs and private parties in cities and socialising are back with fervour. The last thing India wants at this stage is a third wave of Covid-19 sparked by the irresponsible behaviour of the public at large and encouraged by the lax approach of authorities, the report said. India added 12,830 new cases and 446 deaths, including 358 from Kerala, as per the Union health ministry data updated on Sunday morning.
Zydus Cadila has agreed to bring down the price of its Covid-19 vaccine to Rs 265 a dose following persistent negotiations by the Centre, but a final deal is yet to be reached, sources said on Sunday. ZyCov-D is the first vaccine cleared by the drug regulator for people aged 12 years and above. To administer the needle-free vaccine, a disposable painless jet applicator costing R93 is required, which would take the price to Rs 358 per dose. It had earlier proposed R1,900 for its three-dose regimen.
India is ready to produce over 5 billion vaccine doses next year to help the world in the fight against the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a G20 Summit session at Rome on Saturday and asserted that it was necessary that the WHO approves Indian vaccines at the earliest. This commitment of India will go a long way in preventing the spread of Coronavirus, he said. A technical advisory group of the WHO will meet on November 3 to conduct a final "risk-benefit assessment" for emergency use listing of Covaxin.
3,42,73,300
Total no. of Coronavirus cases in India so far
4,58,186
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India so far
1,59,272
Total no. of active cases in India
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
