Kurdistan Region survey reveals public opinion of COVID-19 measures

The Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Planning released the results of a survey on Saturday that indicates that the general public is pleased with the proactive and often strict approach to combat the spread of the coronavirus, despite any personal hardships it may have caused.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region released the results of a survey on Saturday that indicates that the general public is pleased with the proactive and often strict approach to combat the spread of the coronavirus, despite any personal hardships it may have caused.  

After confirming the first case of the contagious disease within its jurisdiction, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) started in mid-March to enact multiple strict precautionary measures to prevent as many members of the general public from contracting it as possible. They include temporarily closing schools, declaring an extended public holiday for government employees, canceling all religious services and other public gatherings, and announcing curfew across the region. 

Read More: KRG extends curfew another 5 days, now across entire Kurdistan Region

On Tuesday, the KRG Ministry of Planning began a 48-hour online research survey in which it asked for the opinions and other input regarding the ongoing policies. A total of 49,037 individuals from both genders participated, almost all of them now within the Kurdistan Region’s four provinces, while just under 1,000 of them were from the region but currently located outside its borders.   

The final results showed that 86.4 percent of the public is "satisfied" with the KRG’s efforts in handling the spread of the pandemic, while 8.8 percent stated they were "mildly satisfied." Just 4.8 percent voiced dissatisfaction or otherwise did not approve of the current measures.   

Additional findings indicate that 73.7 percent of the participants who answered the questionnaires reported, unsurprisingly, that they had faced direct financial hardship as a result of the regionwide lockdown, with 44.7 percent facing unemployment. Another 23.7 percent reported some sort of health repercussions of the imposed curfew, 25.9 percent were experiencing some other negative social or domestic issues, and 25.1 percent complained their education being interrupted. 

Of those who participated in the survey, 55.4 were males and 44.6 percent were female, suggesting a near-equal access to the internet in the Kurdistan Region or at least equal willingness to cooperate with such an effort.

A higher than might have been expected 85.1 percent also supported an extension of the strict curfew and for KRG to continue to add additional precautionary measures recommended by health and security officials, including punishing those violating the curfew. Just 8 percent were against any extensions or expansions of the curfew, and 6.9 said they were neutral or undecided. 

Over 631,000 people are confirmed to have contracted the virus in over 180 countries worldwide, according to data compiled by WHO. Nearly 29,000 have died, as per official numbers reported by governments around the world, though the rate could be dramatically higher due to insufficient testing capabilities or underreporting.

Last week, the WHO in Iraq praised the measures enacted and the leadership role played by the KRG in facing the crisis. 

Read More: WHO praises Kurdistan Region’s anti-coronavirus efforts

“The citizens in the Kurdistan Region are more committed to the instructions, especially concerning the curfew, in comparison to the other Iraqi provinces,” said one of the group's officials based in Iraq.

Editing by John J. Catherine