Dimpal Ramani and Hasmukh Chavda, both assistant professors, surveyed 1,080 who were found roaming outside without any genuine reason and found that 71% of them were in the age group of 15-40 years.
Overconfident youngsters sauntering around on the roads, believing that they have strong immunity, are the biggest contributors to the menacing surge of Covid-19 infections in and around the city.
This has been revealed in an elaborate field survey carried out by researchers of Rajkot-based Saurashtra University who tried to find who the virus superspreaders were.
Dimpal Ramani and Hasmukh Chavda, both assistant professors, surveyed 1,080 who were found roaming outside without any genuine reason and found that 71% of them were in the age group of 15-40 years.
“We saw that vegetable vendors or grocery shop owners were often dubbed as superspreaders. But we have found that these youngsters are actually responsible for the spread as they not only move around without reason but also give two hoots to Covid rules like mask and social distancing,” said Ramani. They decided to carry out the survey as the number of daily cases in the city continue to remain high despite night curfew and a near lockdown of commercial activities.
Rajkot city has recorded 38,305 Covid-19 cases since the outbreak of pandemic last year.
Researchers said these youngsters are unable to confine themselves to the four walls of the house and venture out by giving various excuses to their family members.
In the survey, 17% people found moving outside without reason were from the age of 40-55 while 12% were above the age of 56.
Ramani said “We found that teenagers and youngsters are the actual superspreaders because they venture out by giving various excuses or convincing their parents with emotional blackmail.”
Yogesh Jogsan, head of the SU’s psychology department said, “These youngsters are unmarried and they don’t have family responsibility. They believe their immunity is strong but the senior citizens of their families and children get infected as these youths are virus carriers.”
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