Knowledge and Beliefs towards Universal Safety Precautions to flatten the curve during Novel Coronavirus Disease (nCOVID-19) Pandemic among general Public in India: Explorations from a National Perspective

Abstract

Background:The novel Coronavirus disease is being considered as the most serious health threat that the world has never witnessed in the recent times and significantly affecting the daily routine of mankind by emerging as a global pandemic. Yet, as there is no treatment nor a vaccine that was approved so far, universal safety precautions (USPs) and mitigating strategies are the only way to deal with this emergency crisis. However, knowledge and beliefs towards USPs among the general public in countries such as India with a large population are lacking.Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional, web-based online survey was conducted among the general public in India during March 2020. A 20-item self-administered survey questionnaire was developed and randomly distributed among the public using google document forms through social media networks. Descriptive statistics were used in representing the study characteristics, and the Chi-square test was used in assessing the associations among the study variables with a p-value of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results: Of 1287 participants, 1117 have given their consent of willingness and completed the questionnaire with a response rate of 86.8%. The mean age of the study participants was 28.8 ± 10.9 years, where the majority of them belong to the age category <25 years, and sex was equally distributed. Based upon the socio-demographic information, the majority were post-graduates (32.9%), professional job holders (45%) and belonged to the upper-middle (40%) economic class.Overall, the knowledge and beliefs towards USPs and mitigating strategies among participants varied between moderate to high, with statistically significant associations with their sociodemographic characteristics. Conclusions:Although the knowledge and beliefs of the general public in India towards USPs are encouraging, there is a need for long-term educational interventions as the dynamics and severity of COVID-19 have been changing day-by-day rapidly. The findings of this study could guide the public health authorities in making and implementing decisions to combat this pandemic.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 among Pakistani residents: information access and low literacy vulnerabilities

“…Similar studies conducted in Jordan (17,18), Viet Nam (19), China (20) and India (21,22) also discovered better knowledge among educated people who have access to reliable information. Younger adults, males and those who were unemployed had a lower level of knowledge about COVID-19 in our study population.…”

Public perception of COVID-19 management and response in Nigeria: a cross-sectional survey

“…There have been fundamental changes to society with the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic. [1][2][3][4] As COVID-19 has no specific antiviral drug treatment or vaccine to date, universal safety precautions and mitigating strategies are the only common way to deal with this global health emergency. 4 As COVID-19 outbreak posed significant challenges for the public health, research and medical communities, governmental policies and processes were introduced to curtail the spread of the virus across the nations of the world.…”

“…[1][2][3][4] As COVID-19 has no specific antiviral drug treatment or vaccine to date, universal safety precautions and mitigating strategies are the only common way to deal with this global health emergency. 4 As COVID-19 outbreak posed significant challenges for the public health, research and medical communities, governmental policies and processes were introduced to curtail the spread of the virus across the nations of the world. 5 This included instituting temporary restrictions on travel with dramatic reduction in the number of travellers, self distancing, self isolation, quarantine of international travellers, regular hand washing and the use of face masks.…”

“… 1–4 As COVID-19 has no specific antiviral drug treatment or vaccine to date, universal safety precautions and mitigating strategies are the only common way to deal with this global health emergency. 4 …”

Association of country-wide coronavirus mortality with demographics, testing, lockdowns, and public wearing of masks (Update August 4, 2020)

“…53 A survey conducted in March 2020 found that 75% of the public believed that masks should be worn even by asymptomatic people, and 77% of respondents indicated that the N95 mask was most protective. 74 By May 9, the per-capita mortality was 1.5 per million.…”