50% people say they have COVID-19 cases within close network: Survey

The prevalence of COVID-19 in close social networks has doubled within a week. One in two people have someone in their immediate social network testing positive in the last 30 days, according to LocalCircles, a digital community-based platform, which surveyed more than 30,000 people.

The survey finds a dramatic surge as the prevalence of cases increased from 26 per cent on January 3 to a whopping 50 per cent on January 10, that is within 7 days.

Out of the people who reported to know one or more people with COVID-19, 23 per cent said they knew over five individuals testing positive within the last 30 days.

These numbers, however, might be an underestimation because, with the availability of home test kits, one in six people are not going for an RT-PCR test, the survey notes. Unless there are co-morbidities in the family, people skip the RT-PCR test and prefer home treatment. 

About 50 per cent of the 9,809 respondents said they have one or more people in their close social network who have tested positive in the last 30 days. Of the same number surveyed,  48 per cent said they knew no one who tested positive in the last 30 days in their close social network.

 

Out of those 50 per cent, nine per cent of the respondents said they know "more than 10" individuals, 14 per cent said "6-10", 11 per cent said "3-5", and 16 per cent said "1 or 2" who tested positive.

Further, the survey found that on January 3 (9,014 responses), 26 per cent had one or more people in their close social network test COVID positive in the last 30 days, which increased to 50 per cent on January 10.

COVID cases have risen in spread and depth, the survey found. The percentage of citizens saying they don't have anyone in their close social network who tested positive in the last 30 days decreased from 69 per cent to 48 per cent in seven days.

It is concerning that most people are refusing to get tested, the survey noted. About 15 per cent of 10,176 respondents said they know people who, despite having COVID symptoms in the last 30 days, did not get an RT-PCR test done and preferred to quarantine at home. This is being attributed to the easy availability of antigen tests at home.

The survey was conducted across 371 districts of India. 66 per cent respondents were men while 34 per cent respondents were women.