As Government issues SOP for opening hotels, malls, and restaurants, most say they won’t visit in the next 30 days

32% citizens say if religious places are opened, they will visit them within the next 30 days

The guidelines issued by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare state that touching of statues, idols, holy books, etc., are not to be allowed. Large gatherings, congregation, as well as choir & singing groups will continue to be prohibited. No physical offerings like prasad or distribution or sprinkling of holy water, etc., will be allowed inside the religious places.

Religion is very big in India and many religious places gets visits from thousands of devotees every day while some temples get upto a lakh visitors per day. Religious places are usually filled with people with not much scope of social distancing.

Based on the survey results of 32% wanting to visit a religious place of worship in the next 30 days proves that visiting their temple, mosque, gurudwara or church is a priority for many.

Hospitality sector has seen one of the worst impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown around the world. People were asked if they would be visiting hotels in the next 30 days, and only 10% answered in an affirmative while 81% said they will not be visiting hotels for atleast a month.

Only 10% citizens say if hotels are opened, they will visit them within the next 30 days

The guidelines for the hospitality sector state that staff for home deliveries should be screened thermally by the restaurant authorities prior to allowing home deliveries. Adequate social distancing should be maintained in seating arrangements so that in restaurants and not more than 50% of seating capacity will be permitted. Disposable menus are advised to be used and instead of cloth napkins, good quality disposable paper napkins should be encouraged.

In a LocalCircles poll conducted last week, 74% citizens had said that they will not be visiting their favorite restaurant in the next month, even if they were open, due to the fear of contracting the Coronavirus.

74% citizens say they will not be visiting their favourite restaurant in the area/city in the next 30 days even if it was open

People were also asked if they will be visiting malls when they are reopened for public, and 70% said no while only 21% said yes. 9% were unsure about it.

21% citizens say if malls are opened, they will visit them within the next 30 days

As per the new guidelines issued by the Health Ministry, gaming arcades, play areas and cinema halls in malls will stay closed. The ministry has also specified maintaining an ambient air conditioning temperature of 24 to 30 degrees and a humidity level between 40% and 70%.

But looking at the Coronavirus scare, people are skeptical of visiting the malls so that they could keep themselves and their family safe. More and more people are choosing to get things delivered to their homes instead of going out to the markets to that their exposure to novel Coronavirus could be reduced.

More than 60 lakh people have been infected so far around the world and India with 230,000+ cases has now become the 7th most affected country by COVID-19 in the world, and is soon expected to reach the number 5 sport overtaking Italy and Spain. Although the Government via Unlock 1.0 has opened public places like hotels, malls, restaurants and places of worship, most Indian seem reluctant to visit them in the next 30 days atleast for fear of contracting the virus.

Survey Demographics

32,000+ responses were received from 254 districts of India. 66% respondents were men while 34% respondents were women. 48% respondents were from tier 1, 33% from tier 2 and 19% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts. They survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform and all participants are validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.