Covid‐19 pandemic: Current scenario and public risk perception in Pakistan

Abstract

Covid-19 is a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has exposed the issue of public risk perception among people in Pakistan. Previous research about public risk perception among people in Pakistan has been a neglected area till the writing of the current paper. The study aims to determine the level of public risk perception among people in Pakistan about the Covid-19 pandemic. Why and how public risk perception among health professionals and literate is more than the illiterate people in Pakistan? Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews of populations sampling from five districts through visits in KPK and other provinces via phone calls and online through internet. Theory of Health Belief Model (HBM) was utilized to explain public health risk perception in Pakistan. The lack of public health risk perception has more in illiterate people than literate among people in Pakistan, which has caused the Coronavirus to multiply rapidly in Pakistan. The findings have indicated that both health professionals and other literate people have different health behaviors than those who are illiterate in Pakistan about the Covid-19 pandemic.

Covid‐19 communication in emerging markets—Not viral enough?

“…Covid among the poorer people in developed countries (Wolf et al, 2020) and low risk perception among illiterate people in rural Pakistan (Gul, 2021). We note that government agencies designed awareness campaigns to educate the masses about the virus as soon as the pandemic started.…”

“…People who were aware had better attitudes and practices indicating the importance of awareness in dealing with epidemics and pandemics (Alahdal et al, 2020). Earlier research has shown a lack of awareness regarding Covid among the poorer people in developed countries (Wolf et al, 2020) and low risk perception among illiterate people in rural Pakistan (Gul, 2021). We note that government agencies designed awareness campaigns to educate the masses about the virus as soon as the pandemic started.…”

Travel behaviour changes and risk perception during COVID-19: A case study of Malaysia

“…Regarding risk perception towards COVID-19, respondents to the first survey in 2021 have a generally high-risk perception. During these periods, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Turkey likewise indicated a high-risk perception of the transmission of the virus ( Gul, 2021 ; Tejamaya et al, 2022). However, the global immunisation programme decreased the risk perception of contracting the disease.…”

COVID-19 in Pakistan: A national analysis of five pandemic waves

“…The NCC set national policy which was implemented by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) that was co-headed by the military and civilian leadership [30]. The NCOC coordinated the management of the extensive lockdowns, other key NPIs such as school closures, limited opening hours for essential businesses (examples of which included grocery stores and pharmacies), closure of borders, cancellation of public events and social gatherings [31,32]. This was supported based on an elaborate data gathering and analysis system that guided daily decisions.…”