Abstract
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new variable of the Coro-naviridae family. COVID-19 spreads primarily by contacting the virus either from a COVID-19-infected individual through coughing or sneezing or from COVID-19-contaminated surfaces. A Descriptive cross-sectional survey of 200 participants was conducted to explore the awareness, attitude, and practice of COVID-19 among the arts and science students studying at the University College of Farasan. Results: Of all the participants, 58% showed a moderate level of awareness, 70% presented a high attitude, and 56% presented an adequate practice regarding COVID-19. Significant positive correlation between awareness-attitude (r = 0.156, p-value < 0.001) and attitude-practice (r = 0.192, p-value < 0.001) were found. The majority of students with non-medical background agreed that the patient with COVID-19 could remain asymptomatic (p < 0.01) while considering the transmission route, the students from non-nursing background students were found more conscious (p < 0.01) that infection could spread through personal contact, respiratory droplets and possibly by feces. Despite the moderate public awareness, their attitude and practice were better. Therefore, public awareness must be improved to be prepared for epidemic and pandemic situations.
Highlights
IntroductionA gap in knowledge about the emerging disease can cause chaos and panic among the public
During epidemics and pandemics, a gap in knowledge about the emerging disease can cause chaos and panic among the public
Attitude, and practice have been studied in many previous epidemics such as swine influenza [1], Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) [2], and Dengue fever [3]
Summary
A gap in knowledge about the emerging disease can cause chaos and panic among the public. Negative attitudes and practices towards new infectious diseases can aggravate epidemics, resulting in pandemics. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared this outbreak as a global pandemic on the 12th of March, with the continuous increase in reported cases [4]. Infected people may be asymptomatic, others may develop flu-like symptoms, including fever and coughing, leading to deteriorating conditions in some cases [12]. The severity of symptoms has shown to be more in elderlies and those with underlying chronic health conditions, which complicated pneumonia, cytokine storm, and multi-organ failure [13]
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