Publication

Abstract : Background:Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) which was rst diagnosed in China in December 2019, soon spread all over the world and was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation. Considering that the knowledge, attitude and practices of the public towards this pandemic is likely to inuence their adoption of preventive measures aimed at controlling the transmission of the virus, it is essential to evaluate the same. Methods:A cross-sectional survey was conducted among participants representative of the South Indian Population. A semi-structured online questionnaire was designed using Google forms and disseminated within the networks of the researchers. There were 10 questions framed to assess the knowledge of the participants, 6 to assess their attitude and 12 to know the safe practices adopted by them to prevent acquiring the infection. Each response indicative of a true statement, positive attitude or good practice were allotted 10 points. In case of incorrect response including “Do not know” the participant received zero points. Results: Atotal of 1212 responses were generated from the online survey of which 240 participants (19.8%) were health care workers. The mean scores were 85.68±15.76 in the knowledge domain, 42.83 ± 9.59 in the attitude domain and 98.6 ±12.8 in the practice domain.91.2% of the participants in the study have good knowledge, 41.3% positive attitude and 87.9% adopt healthy preventive practices. Conclusion:The knowledge and practice scores were high indicative of the responsive health implementation systems in these states. Attitude score was found to be low which directly reected on the exponential rising trend in the number of cases at present. It is imperative that the general public must be given access to authentic information to improve their knowledge, attitude and practices.