<p>Pakistan has the world's sixth&nbsp;largest population,&nbsp;estimated at 220 million.For a country of this size, public opinion polling offers an efficient method of ascertaining the&nbsp;views and perceptions of the public in a meaningful way, especially&nbsp;during a crisis.How is a normal Pakistani household coping with the economic loss arising out of the COVID-19&nbsp;crisis? Are they listening to the public health messages&nbsp;being communicated to them, and&nbsp;and acting on the advice? These are some of the questions that a statistically accurate mapping of public perception can answer for policy makers.</p>

<p>The Survey of COVID-19 Responses to Understand Behaviour (SCRUB) project aims to provide current and future policymakers with actionable insights into public attitudes and behaviours relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.Building on the COSMO project, a WHO/Europe initiative, researchers are running a “living survey”—with both repeated cross-sectional and longitudinal sampling—throughout the pandemic.In this survey researchers&nbsp;track relevant protective behaviours, (e.g., handwashing and social distancing), their variations by demographic and location, and their determinants.The research team also tests interventions.After each wave of data collection, researchers generate and disseminate an updated report.</p>

<p>People tend to underestimate the speed at which exponential processes unfold.This is especially relevant in the early stages of an infectious disease outbreak.This paper uses an incentivized, survey instrument to document an exponential-growth prediction bias (EGPB) in the context of COVID-19: the “degree of convexity” in the predicted path of the disease is significantly lower than in the actual path, and respondents from countries at a later stage of the disease progression showed higher bias relative to those at an early stage.</p>