Ashish Bijaykrishna Banerjee1 , Madhumati Varma2 , Ambika Sharma3 , Anita Banerjee4 , Lokendra Sharma5
BACKGROUND The present study was done to evaluate the awareness and perceptions of the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among general population that is spreading rapidly around the world. METHODS This is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted between 12th February and 11th March 2020 among 765 participants above 16 years of age in shopping malls of Jaipur, Rajasthan, using non-probability sampling technique. The study tool was interviewer administered modified pilot-tested structured questionnaire which included questions on general information, individual’s awareness, perceived efficacy, perceived threat, and perceptions about preventive measures by public organizations, health agencies, and local government on COVID-19 disease. RESULTS Compliance with preventive measures among participants was found to be 45.88 % while 58.43% felt distressed and panicked regarding the situation of infection. Participants with rising age groups and those who were employed (p <0.05), married (p <0.05) showed significantly more awareness level and had positive perception in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak. CONCLUSIONS Despite the high positive perceptions of COVID-19 among general population, knowledge gap towards infectious disease still exist. Barriers could be addressed by raising a strong campaign that will increase awareness among community.
