THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Only 39 per cent of Keralites rate the state government’s handling of Covid second wave as effective, reveals a survey conducted by community social media platform LocalCircles.
The survey, which asked citizens to rate government’s performance on the overall handling of the second wave, received 1,684 responses.The survey was conducted via the LocalCircles platform and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in the survey. The performance was rated based on parameters such as availability of testing, containment facilities, hospital beds, oxygen, medicines and so on.
As many as 22 per cent of citizens rated the performance of the Kerala government’s handling of Covid second wave as ‘very effective, while 17 per cent said ‘effective’, and 33 per cent said ‘somewhat effective’. Meanwhile, 28 per cent of Kerala residents surveyed rated the Kerala government’s handling of the second wave as ‘Ineffective’.
None of the respondents rated the state’s handling as a total failure. The findings of the survey indicate that Kerala ranked 8th amongst 17 states of India. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh residents have rated their respective state governments’ handling of second wave as high. Meanwhile, ratings of Bihar and West Bengal were the lowest.
In a statement, the body which conducted the survey has opined that the residents of Kerala aren’t satisfied with the Kerala government’s handling of second wave in the state, after what they witnessed in the last two-month period.
“This is evident with only 39 per cent of Kerala residents rating the state government’s handling of second wave as effective. As the government works on getting ready to handle the third wave, it is critical that all aspects are covered,” it said in its statement.
The aspects ranging from testing, containment, hospital beds availability, readiness to handle pediatric cases of Covid, doctors and medical staff, equipment like ventilators, BIPAP machines, concentrators, medicines and all things related to Covid should be made available in sufficient quantities, it said.
It is critical that information flow is significantly improved and centralised such that citizens call a single number and based on their condition, location, preferences and budget they are assigned the right hospital.
“Similarly, it is key that the patient information dissemination is streamlined, and hospitals can communicate with the family on the patient’s current health condition in a timely manner,” it said.