73% Of Delhiites In Favour Of Lockdown/Curfew Extension But With Proper Home Delivery Beyond Essentials: Survey

With the surging cases, residents of Delhi are in favour of a lockdown/curfew model which relies on home delivery. This will require that all apps/websites and retail stores are permitted to operate and open but only for home deliveries and not for in-person purchasing. 

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New Delhi: On Saturday, the Union Health Ministry reported India recorded 401,993 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, making it the only country to report so many cases in a single day.

 With the numbers surging it is not surprising that many would like for the lockdown/curfew be extended at least in Delhi. A survey by LocalCircles found that 75% residents of Delhi are in favour of extending lockdown/curfew by at least 1 week.

With an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases in Delhi reporting more than 25,000 COVID-19 cases daily, zero ICU and oxygen beds, extreme shortage of COVID medicines, testing, and even cremation ground running out of space, many are realizing that Delhi is in a lockdown versus death situation. 

In survey question which received 16,397 responses, sought to know Delhi residents' perception whether they support the further imposition of a complete lockdown in the city after May 3rd. In response, 31% said “extend it by 3 weeks”, 29% said “extend it by 2 weeks”, and 15% said “extend it by 1 week”. There were only 5% voting for “end the lockdown/curfew and remove all restrictions”, while 13% said “end the lockdown/curfew and just impose night curfew”, and 7% couldn’t say. The findings of the poll indicate that 75% of residents of Delhi are in favour of extending lockdown/curfew by at least 1 week as the city faces its biggest health emergency crisis while 60% are in favour of at least a 2-week lockdown extension. 

Last week, the percentage of residents of Delhi voting in favour of lockdown was 68%, which has been risen to 75% this week. This suggests that the percentage of residents of Delhi supporting lockdown has increased by almost 5-fold in 1 month.

The next question in the survey asked residents about the kind of services they think that should be permitted during lockdown or curfew. In response, 43% said “home delivery of items like grocery & medicines”, and 41% said “home delivery of all goods”. Breaking down the poll, 13% said “physical retail stores opened in shifts to provide for in-person shopping”, while 3% couldn’t say. The findings of the survey indicate that 84% of residents of Delhi believe that home delivery of goods should be the primary model that should be used during lockdown or curfew in the city. This question in the survey received 5,801 responses.

When residents of Delhi were asked about the kind of products and services they anticipate needing beyond groceries and medicines in the next 3 months. In response, 57% said “school books, stationery & equipment for online classes”, 40% said “children apparel, footwear, raincoats, etc.”, and 31% said “other children’s needs such as toys to keep children engaged at home, hobby, supplies, etc.”. This question in the survey received 5,051 responses.

Similarly, based on inputs from the consumer discussion, the final question asked residents of Delhi about the “must-have” products they will need to procure for their household in the next 3 months. Out of the 5,507 responses 48% said “equipment such as laptop & mobile phone for work from home or other activities”, 45% said “air conditioners, coolers, fans, whitegoods, others”, and 27% said “home appliances, bedding and furnishings”. The findings indicate that “gadgets” and “whitegoods” are the top categories in which households in Delhi will need to purchase in the next 3 months. 

Residents of Delhi are in favour of a lockdown/curfew model which relies on home delivery i.e., goods moving to people and people not moving to goods. This will require that all apps/websites and retail stores are permitted to operate and open but only for home deliveries and not for in-person purchasing. 

Such a move will make long-term lockdown/curfew convenient for people and also ensures that businesses don’t face short and medium-term shutdown and the economic impact of lockdown to livelihood is minimized.