Original Research Article
Year: 2021 | Month: October | Volume: 11 | Issue: 10 | Pages: 67-71
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijhsr.20211010
Awareness and Perception Regarding Corona Virus Disease 19 Outbreak among General Public of Selected Area of Kathmandu
Kiran Chhetri1, Puspa Kumari Deo2
1Nursing Instructor, Vinayak College of Health Science, Kathmandu, Nepal
2Lecturer, Assistant Head of Department, Nobel College, Sinamangal, Kathmandu, Nepal
Corresponding Author: Kiran Chhetri
ABSTRACT
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 is an upcoming contagious respiratory infection caused by a new coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV2) which is transmitted through the respiratory droplets produced by coughing or sneezing of an infected person. The behavior of the general public will probably have an important bearing on the course of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. Human behavior is influenced by knowledge and perceptions. This paper aims to identify the awareness and perception regarding COVID-19 among general public.
Method: A cross sectional descriptive design was used by using structured online questionnaire through Google form. The study was conducted at certain area of Kathmandu. Sample size was 423 with non probability convenience sampling technique.
Result: The findings revealed that overall, 44.9% respondents had low, 34.0% had average and 21% had high level of awareness. Likewise, 56.6% had positive perception and 43.2% had negative perception about COVID outbreak. Also 62% respondents had positive and 37.7% had negative perception about prevention of COVID. There is an association between educational status and level of awareness with ‘p’ value lesser than 0.05 at 95% level of confidence.
Conclusion: Majority of respondents were not aware about the outbreak of COVID19. Also more than half of respondents had positive perception about outbreak of COVID 19. The effective measures are being taken by the government and the public, still there remains a need for further awareness campaigns and knowledge of safe interventions to combat the spread of disease.
Key words: awareness, perception, COVID19, general public.