The effect of online Seminars on Public’s Knowledge About The Covid-19 Pandemic in the New Normal Era

Abstract

Covid-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) is a disease transmitted between animals andhumans (zoonosis) by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2).A total of 70.736 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 3.417 deaths have been reported bythe Ministry of Health (9 July 2020). Various steps have been taken to control thespread of the Covid-19 pandemic that is currently happening in Indonesia, one of whichis health promotion. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it was suggested that educationalmethods be better done online. So, this study is interested in assessing the effect ofthe educational method with online seminars through WhatsApps on the knowledge ofthe general public about covid-19 and the new normal policy. This study uses aresearch design quasi experimental pre and post test design by comparing theknowledge of respondents before and after observation. Observations were made whenrespondents attended online seminars about covid-19 and new normal via theWhatsApp group. The population in this study were 416 people who were members ofthe online seminar group conducted by the IKM-IKK FK Unsri department. In thisstudy, 171 respondents met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results of theunivariate analysis regarding the characteristics of the respondents obtained anaverage age 28.61 years, female (61.4%), and not yet working (45.6%), includingstudents and college students. It was found that the level of knowledge of respondentsabout Covid-19 increased from 43.9% to 77.8%. Likewise, the respondents’ goodknowledge about the new normal increased from 9.9% to 42.1%. Comparative analysisshowed a significant change in knowledge about Covid-19 and new normal respondentsafter attending an online seminar, namely p= 0.000 and p= 0.000. So, it can beconcluded that online seminars have a significant effect on changes in the knowledgeof the general public about Covid-19 and the new normal.