61% Pakistanis believe coronavirus threat ‘exaggerated’ — Gallup survey

A man wears protective mask maintaining social distance with others as they gather to celebrate Eid al-Fitr prayers to mark the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, as the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Peshawar, Pakistan May 13, 2021. (REUTERS)

• Public satisfaction with government handling of pandemic down from 76% in July 2021 to 41% now
• 2 in 5 Pakistanis, 41%, think the pandemic is a foreign conspiracy

ISLAMABAD: The findings of a recent survey show over half of Pakistan’s population believes the threat of the coronavirus pandemic is "exaggerated," with the figure surging from 36%, when the survey was last held in September, to 63% between December and January.
Gallup Pakistan's attitude tracker study for COVID-19, conducted between December 22, 2021 and January 15, 2022, was carried out among a sample of 1,865 men and women in urban and rural areas, representing the four provinces of the country.
“There is a two-fold increase since August 2021 in the proportion of Pakistanis who consider the threat of COVID-19 to be exaggerated from 36% to 61%,” the Gallup report said.
As per the details of the survey, 2 in 5 Pakistanis, or 41%, think the pandemic is a foreign conspiracy, which is a decrease from the 49% who thought the same in the last survey.  
The survey also noted that more people from urban areas (64%) compared to the country’s rural areas (36%) believed the threat of the pandemic to be exaggerated. This is despite the fact that more people from urban areas were reported to contract the infection than those living in rural areas.  
In August last year, 59% of Pakistanis believed they or someone they knew had contracted COVID-19. This number, in the recent survey, has decreased to 43%.  
The survey also showed a massive jump in the number of people vaccinated against the infection, with 84% of adult Pakistanis with mobile phone access admitting that they have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. 
However, fewer people are now satisfied with the government’s performance when it comes to handling the pandemic, according to another key finding of the survey. The number of people who are satisfied with the way the government has tackled coronavirus has gone down from 76% in July 2021 to 41% now.  
The Gallup Pakistan survey revealed that only 1 in four Pakistanis believes the pandemic has been eliminated from the country while the coronavirus’ economic impact seems to have slightly improved.  
“Gallup Pakistan’s economic wellbeing indicator that had declined on 4 out of 7 indicators in August has now witnessed improvement in 6 out of 7 indicators at the start of 2022,” the survey said.
Pakistan reported the lowest daily coronavirus cases in a month on Tuesday, as the country logged 2,799 new infections. The South Asian nation has been battling an omicron-driven fifth wave of virus infections. However, the number of cases has been on the decline.