COVID-19 AWARENESS ASSESSMENT: A SURVEY STUDY IN INDIAN CONTEXT

ASSESSMENT: A SURVEY STUDY IN INDIAN CONTEXT

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease-2019) has spread globally now and has become life threatening pandemic disease. The W.H.O. (World Health Organization) declaredasapublichealthemergencyofinternationalconcern.So,itisnecessarytoorganizeaawarenessprogramtocope-upwiththisdisease.ThePurposeofthis presentsurveystudywastoassesstheawarenessleveloftheIndianpeopleregardingCOVID-19.Thissurveystudywasconductedfrom22ndJulyto31stJuly,2020 among585individualsofallIndialeveltoassesstheawarenesslevelregardingCOVID-19andsteptobetakenforitsprevention.Theconclusionofthissurveystudy wasverysatisfactory Theawarenesslevelisveryhighamongtheeducatedpeople,whowereactivelyparticipatedinthissurveystudyandthosepeoplewhoarenot aware,itisnecessarytosensitizethembyorganizingdifferenttypesofawarenessprogram.Thissurveywouldhelpthehealthcareprofessionaltocreateregardingthe effectofthisCoronavirusondifferentofagegroupandsocialgrouptohelppreventcarelessnessamongstIndianpeople.

KEYWORDS:COVID-19,Awareness,Assessment,HealthCareProfessional.

BACKGROUND:

COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease-2019) is an infectious disease caused by SARScoronavirus2(SARS-COV-2),aviruscloselyrelatedtotheSARSVirus. It was first identified in December, 2019 in Wuhan, China. This disease has spreadgloballynowandhasbecomeanorganizing2019-20lifethreateningpandemic disease. The World Health organization (W.H.O.) declared the Corona virusoutbreak2019-20asapublichealthemergencyofinternationalconcernon 30January,2020andapandemicon11March,2020.

Thediseaseisthecauseofthe2019-20Coronavirusoutbreaks.Thosewhoget thediseasemightgetafever,drycough,fatigueandshortnessofbreath.Asore throat,runnynoseorsneezingislesscommon.Inverybadcases,theycaneven getamuchworsefever,decreasedwhitebloodcells,unappetizing,mightcaught upbloodandhavekidneyfailure.

COVID-19Virusspreadfrompersontopersonthroughtheairlikethecommon colddoesRobertStevensofJohnsHopkinsUniversityinBaltimore,arestarting studiestowatchpeoplewhohaverecoveredfromCOVID-19toseewhatlongtermeffectstheyhave.Scientiststhinkthatpeople,whohaveCOVID-19anddo notdiemightstillhavelungsorbraindamagefortherestoftheirlives.OtherscientistssawthatSARS-CoV-2madethebodymakelessofthemalehormonetestosterone and considered the SARS-CoV-2 could cause sterility the way the mumpsandotherVirusesdo.Asterilemancannotfatherchildrennaturally

TherearemanywaystopreventthespreadofCOVID-19washinghandsforat least20secondswillhelpdestroytheviruses.Avoidingtouchingyoursowneyes, noseormouthwithunwashedhandsisanotherwaytoavoidcatchingCOVID19.Peopleshouldavoidcrowdedplacewhereverpossible,becauseclosecontact withlargegroupsofpeoplecaneasilyspreadthevirus.Infact,manyhealthorga-

AgeofSample

GenderofSample

nizations say that people should stay at least two meters from another person. MaypeoplewearfacemaskinpublictoavoidcatchingtheVirusanditisrecommendedbyothercountriessuchasChina,HongKong&Thailand.

TheVirusthatcausesCOVID-19isnowtohumans.Thismeansthatthereareno medicinesthatcanstoppeoplefromgettingCOVID-19orthatcantreatthemif theydogetit.Scientistsareworkinghardtoinventandtestnewmedicines.Some scientistsaretryingtoinventanewvaccinewhichwouldstoppeoplefromgettingsickwithCOVID-19.

Consideringthecurrentscenario,onSeptember,09-2020,27,722,275peopleare affected by this Virus in more than 215 countries and territories leading to 900,875 death and 19,812,885 people have been recovered by this disease till now

ThereiscurrentlynoadequatevaccineforthisVirusbutwiththehelpofsupportingtherapy,isolation,physicaldistancingthisViruscanbecured.

Purpose:

Themainpurposeofthispresentsurveystudywastoassesstheawarenesslevel oftheIndianpeopleregardingCOVID-19.

Methods:

Asurveywasconductedamong585Individualstoassesstheirawarenesslevel regardingCOVID-19.

(a) Sample:Thisstudywasconductedon585individualsbyselectingrandom – cum – purposive, sampling technique from whole India details aregivenbelow:

Educationlevelofthesample

Residenceofthesample

Religionofsample OccupationoftheSample

Dr.VikashKumar

AssistantProfessor,DepartmentofPsychology,R.C.College,Sakra,B.R.A.BiharUniversity,Muzaffarpur,Bihar,India.

(b) SurveyTools:Asurveyquestionnairewhichcontains20questionprepared by the researcher himself was used for collecting the necessary data.

(c) Procedure:Thesurveyquestionnairewasadministeredon585respondents. The date were obtained and analyzed by appropriate statistical technique.

MATERIALSANDDATACOLLECTION: Thissurveywassentviasocialmediai.e.whatsaapgroupandfacebook.Thesurvey rendered 585 responses. This survey, which was conducted, contained 20

Around 96.2% people know Corona Virus has become pandemic, only 2.7% people don't know about Corona Virus has become pandemicandonly1%peopleresponsecan'tsay

questionswithmultiplechoicequestions.Alltheindividualswhoansweredthe surveywereinformedabouttheconfidentialityoftheirresponseandwerealso informed about the confidentiality of their response and were also informed aboutthepurposeofconductingthissurvey EachandeveryindividualofIndia ofallagegroupswereincludedinthissurvey Theevaluationofthesurveywas donebyGoogleform.

RESULTSANDDISCUSSION:

Thesurveygenerated585responseson20SurveyQuestionnaire.Detailsresults aregivenbelowwithappropriategraphs:

Around99%peopleusemasktocovermouthandnoseatworkplace. Only 0 3% people responded no and 0 7% people responded sometime.

Around 99% people wash hand regularly with soap and water and only 1% people responded sometimes wash hand with soap and water

96.8% people use sanitizer regularly, only 0.02% people don't use Sanitizerandonly3.1%,peopleusesanitizersometimes.

Around93.3%peopledownloadedArogyaSetuappinmobile,5.5% people not downloadedArogya Setu app and 1.2% people react not neededaboutdownloadingtheArogyaSetuaap.

Around74.4%peopleheardaboutDikshaaap,18.5%peopledidnot heardaboutthisaapandonly7.2%peoplereactmaybe.

Around96.2%peoplemaintainhygieneinhome,1.7%peopledidn't maintainhygieneinhomeandonly2.1%peoplemaintainsometimes hygieneinhome.

99% people maintain social distancing while interacting with other, 0.3% people not maintain social distancing while interacting with other and only 2.1% people sometimes maintain social distancing whileinteractingwithother

95.9% people avoid crowded place, 2.7% not avoid crowded place, only1.4%.Peoplesometimesavoidcrowdedplace.

Around 85.1% people practice yoga and exercise regularly, 2.9% peoplenotpracticeYogaandexerciseregularlyandonly12%people sometimespracticeyogaandexerciseregularly

Around 89.10% people sensitize other people about Corona Virus, 3.8%peoplenotsensitizeotherpeopleaboutCoronaVirusandonly 7.2%peoplesometimessensitizeotherpeopleaboutCoronaVirus.

About 8.9% people believed all Corona infected people die. 83.9% peoplebelievedallCoronainfectedpeoplenotdieand7.2%people reactmaybeaboutthisquestion.

Around 17.4% people believed that the cold is the ground to be considered Corona positive 62.9% people believed, that the cold is not the sufficient ground to be considered Corona positive and only 0.7%peoplereactmaybeaboutthisquestion.

Around6.8%peoplegetscaredfromCorona,88.4%peoplesaveour selffromCoronaandonly4.8%reactencountertheCorona.

Around3.8%believeddoctorandnursearetheCoronawarriors,0% believed police and cleaner are not the Corona warriors, 0.3% believedadministrationaretheCoronawarriorsand95.90%people believed all above like doctor, nurse, police, administration, and cleanersaretheCoronawarriors.

Around94.4%peoplebelievedtheCoronawarriorsaretherespected People, 4.6% people not believed the Corona warriors are the respectedPeopleandonly1%peoplesometimesbelievedtheCorona warriorsaretherespectedpeople.

Around68% people knowaboutCOVID-19referstoCoronaVirus Disease, 4.3% people knew about COVID refers to Corona Virus disorder,21.9%peoplereactbothi.e.COVIDreferstoCoronaVirus disease and Corona Virus disorder and only 5% people responded noneofthese.

Around 95.2% people knew about COVID-19 started fromWuhan, 2.4% people responded New Delhi, 0.5% people responded New Yorkand1.9%peoplerespondedBeijing.

Around99.5%peopleknewabouttheCOVID-19infectionisspread by sneezing and touching both, 2.1% people responded only sneezing4.37% peoplerespondedonlylaughingarethemediumof SpreadingofCOVID-19 infection

Around 86 2% people knew about the COVID-19 related to quarantine,isolationandventilation,only11.10%peopleresponded quarantine, 1.5% people responded isolation and only 1.2% people respondedventilation.

Over all the average score of respondent 17.93 out of 20 Points, it's median 18/20 points and range 7 to 20 points. 153 respondents scored 20 Points, 120 respondentsscores19points,105respondentsscored18points,89respondent scored 17 points, 51 respondents scored 16 points, 33 respondents scored 13 points, 6 respondents scored 12 and only 1-1 respondents scored 11,10,8,7 respectively

DISCUSSION:

The survey study conducted aims at assisting the health-care professionals to evaluate the awareness level of the Indian people regarding COVID-19 and its preventionandtreatmentplane.ThediseaseCOVID-19spreadthroughrespiratorydropletsandpersonalcontactwiththeinfectedperson.Socialdistancingand maintaininghygienewithalcohol-basedsanitizersisthebestwaytopreventthe spreadofthisVirusasthepersonremainsasymptomaticfromtheexposuretill the first symptom is shown that is for around 2-14 days which is incubation periodofVirus.ThisVirusmainlyaffectsthepersonwithlowerimmunitylevels irrespectiveoftheiragethatisolderpeople,immune-compromisedpeople,peoplewithchronicconditions,diabetesandpeopleonradiationtherapy

Inthissurveystudy,Wegetmanyinformationregardingtheawarenesslevelof

theIndianpeopleregardingthisissue.Accordingtoaboveresultstheawareness level of this disease was very satisfactory Average score of all respondent are 17.93 points out of 20 points. 96.2% people respond correct response and they knowcoronavirushasbecamepandemic,99%peoplerespondcorrectresponse andtheyusemasktocovermonthandnoseatworkplace,99%peoplerespond correctresponseandtheywashhandregularlywithsoapandwater,96.8%peopleusesanitizer,93.3%peopledownloadArogyasetuappinmobile,74.4%PeopleheardaboutDikshaapp,96.2%peoplemaintainhygieneinhome,99%personmaintainsocialdistancingwhileinteractingwithother,95.9%personavoid crowded place, 85.1% people practice yoga and exercise regularly, 89.1% personstrytosanitizeotherpeopleaboutcoronavirus,83.9%personsrespond'no' forcoronainfectedpeopledie,62.9%peopleawareaboutthesufficientground to be considered Corona positive, 88.4% respondents save ours self from Corona, 95.9% respondents assume that doctors, nurse, police, administration and cleaners are the Corona warriors, 94.4% people respect corona warriors, 68.9% people know that the COVID refers to corona Virus Disease, 95.2% respondentknowthatCOVID-19startedfromWuhan,93.5%peopleawarethat thisinfectionisspreadbysneezingandtouchingbothand86.2%knowthatthe quarantine,isolationandventilationarerelatedtoCOVID-19.

CONCLUSION: According to above result and discussion the main conclusion of this survey studyistheawarenesslevelofIndianpeopleregardingCOVID-19isverysatis-

factoryandthosepeoplewhoarenotawareaboutthispandemic,weshouldsensitizethembyorganizingdifferenttypesofawarenessactivitiesandprogramto preventthisCOVID-19pandemic.

This survey would help the health care workers and corona warriors to create awarenessregardingtheeffectofthispandemicondifferentagegroup,different socialgrouptohelppreventcarelessnessamongstIndianpeople.

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