Adherence to Face Mask and Social Distancing during Coronavirus 19 Pandemic. Sudan 2020-2021

Abstract

Background and Objectives:The Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID 19) pandemic affects 187 countries which is began in China in December 2019 and spread around the world very quickly, becoming one of the greatest threats to human life in this century. As a result, preventive measures such as wearing face mask and social distancing have been implemented to fight against spreading of the virus. This study aimed to assess adherence to face mask and social distancing during COVID19 pandemic.Methods and Materials:This is a Cross-sectional observational study conducted at Khartoum state, the capital of Sudan. 1222 residents have been selected randomly to participate in this study. The inclusion criteria are: Everybody lives in Khartoum state is eligible to participate in this study. The exclusion criteria are: Everybody does not live in Khartoum state.The data was collected through structural questionnaire which include personal data and the questions which measure the adherence to face mask and social distance. And the data was analyzed by SPSS application.Results:The total of participants in this study was 1222. The majority of participants wear face mask only if it is necessary to enter a commercial store, governmental institution or a hospital (45.9%). The remaining portion of the participants wearing the mask only when they are with their family (11.9 %) or with friends (11.1%) or at transport (16 %) and at parties (6.5 %). On the other hand, (8.4 %) of the participants never wear a mask at all Table (4).The most of the participants practicing the social distancing only if it is needed to enter a commercial store, government institution or a hospital (41.5%), whereas the rest do it only when they are with their family (10.2 %), with friends (6.2 %), at parties (6.8 %) and at transport (11 %). However, almost quarter of them do not do social distancing at all (24.3 %).Conclusion:In conclusion, most of the participants in this study have poor adherence to COVID19 preventive measures, especially wearing Face Mask and social distancing. They tend to follow these preventive measures only when imposed by an authority or it is necessary to enter certain places.