Description of the Characteristics of Public’s Knowledge and Perceptions About the Covid-19 Pandemic in the New Normal Era

Abstract

Covid-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) caused by Severe Acute Respiratory SyndromeCoronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020.Various stepshave been taken to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic that is currentlyhappening in Indonesia. Despite all the efforts of the government and media to educatethe public, the increase in the number of daily cases in Indonesia has not shown adecline. This encourages researchers to assess the level of public knowledge andperceptions because factors have an influence on individual health behavior that cancontribute to pandemic control efforts. This research uses study method observationaldescriptive. The population in this study were 343 people who filled out a researchquestionnaire conducted by the IKM-IKK FK Unsri department. For 251 respondents whofilled out the online questionnaire completely, the mean age was 23.78 ± 7.46, 63.7%female, 63.7% college graduates, 77.7% Muslim, and the majority of occupations arecollege students and students (54.6%). In the assessment of knowledge, 137 people(35.7%) had a good level of knowledge with a mean valueknowledge 13.25 ± 3.2. Themajority of respondents have a good perception, namely 249 people (99.2%) with morethan half showing a positive perception of the risk of infection if not taking precautions,the importance of wearing masks and physical distancing, hand washing behavior, self-isolation, and consumption of nutritious food during the Covid-19 pandemic..