. Joyal Alias Saji; . Bichu P. Babu; . Shaliet Rose Sebastian
Volume 10, Issue 12 , December 2020, , Pages 1-4
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The current novel coronavirus pandemic started as a simple outbreak inDecember 2019 from Wuhan, China, and it has now become a global threat. The governments frommost of ...
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BACKGROUND: The current novel coronavirus pandemic started as a simple outbreak inDecember 2019 from Wuhan, China, and it has now become a global threat. The governments frommost of the countries including India have already taken strict precautionary measures to reducethe coronavirus spread such as social distancing, closure of schools, colleges, airports, restaurants,shopping malls, and other places where the people might gather. An increase in the levels of anxiety,aggression, depression, forgetfulness, and hallucinations are possible psychological effects ofisolation. Too little is understood of the social impact of the pandemic.AIM: To study the social impact of post‑COVID‑19 lockdown in Kerala from a community perspective.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross‑sectional survey was conducted among 700 families(50 families from each district) from all the 14 districts of Kerala from during April‑May 2020 usingrespondent‑driven sampling. The data were analyzed and the categorical variables have beenpresented as percentages and proportions.RESULTS: Anxiety (44%) and fear (44.3%) were reported by many of the study participants. Thesurvey also picked up an increase in the prevalence of domestic violence (13.7%) during the period.The most common social change brought about by the lockdown was an improvement in the hygienepractices among the study population.CONCLUSION: The present study highlights the positive social changes brought about as a resultof the COVID‑19 lockdown. Further studies need to be conducted on a larger scale to assess thepsycho‑behavioural impact of COVID‑19 on the wider population.
