Abstract
The present study examines the perception of senior high school (SHS) students on the coronavirus and the use of masks to prevent the disease. Semi-structured interviews were employed as a form of data collection with purposively sampled twenty-four (24) senior high school students comprising twelve (12) males and twelve (12) females aged sixteen to nineteen (16-19) years. Thematic analysis was used in analysing the qualitative data gathered. Six (6) themes emerged that centered around SHS students' perception of the coronavirus, wearing of masks, health effects and other general ideas on the pandemic. The main themes were the mode of spread, symptoms, prevention, reasons for wearing masks, the health effects of wearing masks and other issues. The findings were discussed in line with recent literature and recommendations have been made to the stakeholders for policy direction. In sum, the students usually follow the safety protocols instituted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the government to stay alive and protected as they are aware of the adverse effects of contracting the disease which include death and liver damage when one even recovers.
Highlights
Introduction and backgroundThe wearing of masks to control airborne infections is well researched in several pieces of literature (Tang et al, 2009; Liu & Zhang, 2020; Chan & Yuen, 2020; Humphreys, 2020; Guan et al, 2020)
The purpose of the study was to examine the perceptions of senior high school (SHS) students on the coronavirus and the use of masks to prevent the pandemic
The findings revealed that students are aware of the mode of spread of the virus, the symptoms associated with contracting the virus, prevention of the virus, reasons for wearing masks, the health effects of wearing masks and other relevant issues on the pandemic
Summary
The wearing of masks to control airborne infections is well researched in several pieces of literature (Tang et al, 2009; Liu & Zhang, 2020; Chan & Yuen, 2020; Humphreys, 2020; Guan et al, 2020). Liu and Zhang (2020) in their correspondence on face masks reported that one coronavirus patient traveling in china infected five people on a vehicle without a mask but infected none when a mask was worn. This explains the importance of wearing face masks in an enclosed space. Humphrey contends that the wearing of face masks should be within a short period to reduce the contraction of hypoxia
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