Abstract
Public health and social interventions are critical to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Ethiopia has implemented a variety of public health and social measures to control the pandemic. This study aimed to assess social distancing and public health preventive practices of government employees in response to COVID-19. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,573 government employees selected from 46 public institutions located in Addis Ababa. Data were collected from 8th to 19th June 2020 using a paper-based self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 23.0. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. Binary logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with outcome variables (perceived effectiveness of facemask wearing to prevent coronavirus infection, and COVID-19 testing). Majority of the participants reported facemask wearing (96%), avoiding close contact with people including handshaking (94.8%), consistently followed government recommendations (95.6%), frequent handwashing (94.5%), practiced physical distancing (89.5%), avoided mass gatherings and crowded places (88.1%), restricting movement and travelling (71.8%), and stayed home (35.6%). More than 80% of the participants perceived that consistently wearing a facemask is highly effective in preventing coronavirus infection. Respondents from Oromia perceived less about the effectiveness of wearing facemask in preventing coronavirus infection (adjusted OR = 0.27, 95% CI:0.17-0.45). About 19% of the respondents reported that they had ever tested for COVID-19. Respondents between 40-49 years old (adjusted OR = 0.41, 95% CI:0.22-0.76) and 50-66 years (adjusted OR = 0.43, 95% CI:0.19-0.95) were less likely tested for coronavirus than the younger age groups. Similarly, respondents from Oromia were less likely to test for coronavirus (adjusted OR = 0.26, 95% CI:0.12-0.56) than those from national level. Participants who were sure about the availability of COVID-19 testing were more likely to test for coronavirus. About 57% of the respondents perceived that the policy measures in response to the pandemic were inadequate. The findings showed higher social distancing and preventive practices among the government employees in response to COVID-19. Rules and regulations imposed by the government should be enforced and people should properly apply wearing facemasks, frequent handwashing, social and physical distancing measures as a comprehensive package of COVID-19 prevention and control strategies.
Highlights
The ongoing rapid spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) [1] and first reported in China in December 2019 [2, 3], has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the disease as a global pandemic on 11th March 2020 [4]
About 40% of the study participants were drawn from national institutions, 38.8% from Addis Ababa city administration institutions and 21.6% from Oromia Regional State institutions located in Addis Ababa
About 19% of the respondents reported that they were tested for COVID-19, 7.1% reported any chronic illness, and only 2% were quarantined due to COVID-19
Summary
The ongoing rapid spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) [1] and first reported in China in December 2019 [2, 3], has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the disease as a global pandemic on 11th March 2020 [4]. The virus has rapidly spread across the world and has caused over 200 million confirmed cases and more than 4.3 million deaths worldwide as of 14th August 2021 [5]. Almost all African countries have been hit with the pandemic with the first confirmed case reported in Egypt on 14th February 2020 [6]. A recent epidemiological analysis of COVID-19 cases in Ethiopia revealed that 88% of the patients were between ages 10 and 49 years, and 84% were asymptomatic, indicating that symptomatic and severe cases are lower in Ethiopia than other countries [9]
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