Majority respondents to COVID-19 survey satisfied with govt handling of crisis

Surveys done by the Institute for Public Opinion Research (IPOR) and Pulse Consultant (PC) have revealed that a majority of respondents are satisfied overall with the government's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, The News reported.

According to The News, the sample size surveyed by both companies was around 4,000.

The survey questions revolved around national challenges, economic problems, the budget and which leader respondents think can address the many issues faced by the country as a result of the pandemic.

For PC's survey, about 47% said they are satisfied with the federal government's COVID-19 response, while 37% thought "it left much to be desired", according to The News. The rest gave a mixed opinion on the matter.

For the survey conducted by IPOR, 51% provided positive feedback for the government's handling, whereas 42% felt negatively about it. The remaining 7% did not respond to the question.

As far as provincial performance goes, respondents to the surveys gave a 31% disapproval rating to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 39% to Punjab, 41% to Sindh, and 45% to Balochistan.

The poll overall found that 63% were unhappy with the budget for FY2020-21, finding it inadequate and one that did not offer any relief.

To a query regarding knowning someone contracting the virus, 46% said they knew someone personally who had contracted the disease, while a majority 54% said they did not know anyone personally to have caught it.

Issues of concern

Among issues of top concern, 50% of those surveyed said unemployment is their biggest worry.

Meanwhile, 21% found inflation, 17% found corruption, 4% identified coronavirus pandemic as the major crisis and only 2% found general economic problems as the crisis area, said the report.

"The elite described corruption as the biggest concern, while the middle class and the poor segments found inflation to be the issue of most serious concern," it added.

Choice of leaders

About 28% expressed confidence that PML-N's Shehbaz Sharif "can steer the country out of the nagging issues", according to the report.

Among the rest, 23% perceived as Imran Khan capable of steering the country clear of the issues, 8% sided with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, 2% each chose Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Khadim Hussain Rizvi and 1% thought Sirajul Haq has the answers.

As many as 5% cited other preferences, while 11% said none of the existing leaders are capable.

Favoured party

"To a question as to which political party offered the best help to the public, 28% of respondents found PTI, 16% found Jamaat-e-Islami, 10% found PPP and 10% found PML-N to be helpful during the lock down," said the report.

Additionally, 8% responded by saying they had found NGOs and private institutes to have helped the people during the crisis.

However, 44% were of the view no one offered any help to anyone.

Economic impacts

On economic impacts, 93% felt lockdowns had increased unemployment, whereas the remaining 7% did not see that to be the case. Similarly, 93% felt their jobs were vulnerable to economic shocks, while 7% did not feel their jobs are endangered.

Among the respondents, 67% reported seeking financial assistance during the lockdowns, while 33% denied having done so.

Reopening of schools

On the reopening of schools on September 15, 77% of the people were in favour of the move, 18% expressed concerns and 5% did not respond.

Answering a similar query, 80% responded positively about sending their children to school, 16% refused to do so and 4% chose not to respond.