Round 3: NCAER'S Delhi NCR Coronavirus Telephone Survey: From Lockdowns to Lifting Restrictions

NCAER hosted Sonalde Desai and Santanu Pramanik from its National Data Innovation Centre to share the results of Round 3 of its rapid response Delhi NCR Coronavirus Telephone Survey (DCVTS-3) launched on June 15 and completed on June 23. NCAER Director General Shekhar Shah moderated the discussion. DCVTS-3 builds on DCVTS-1, fielded during April 3-6 (results released April 12), and DCVTS-2, fielded April 23-26 (results released May 1).

From one of the most stringent lockdowns in the world, India is rapidly moving to ease restrictions even as the peak still seems far and infections to date, nationally, have crossed 6 lakhs and are growing. Delhi NCR, with its recent surge, has climbed to third place in the country, with nearly 90,000 cases to date and the highest caseload and deaths per 100,000 population in the country. The weeks of lockdowns and reopening have led to changing attitudes and practices in Delhi NCR, and to the many ways in which households are adjusting to the economic stresses that the pandemic, the lockdowns, and now the lifting of restrictions have produced. The rapid response DCVTS are designed to understand these adjustments and changing attitudes and practices.

The DCVTS team carried out Round 1 in April shortly after the first lockdown started. Round 2 gauged household reactions to a continuation of the first, stringent lockdown. The team fielded DCVTS-3 at a crucial moment when restrictions were coming off but Coronavirus infections in the NCR were accelerating rapidly and the region’s healthcare infrastructure and testing facilities were coming under historically unprecedented stress.

The DCVTS-3 will report its findings on:

• ways in which the lockdowns have affected different occupational groups
• household access to welfare measures during the lockdowns, including their coverage, targeting, delivery mechanisms and bottlenecks
• difficulties after the lockdowns in getting back to work and remaining safe
• trends in social distancing and risk perceptions as the lockdowns are eased.

DCVTS-3 resurveyed households contacted in Rounds 1 and 2, doubling the size of its sample from the rural and urban districts of Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana. The webinar was attended by over 140 participants.

NCAER DCVTS Round 3 results and the Press Release is available on this webpage