This cross-sectional study has evaluated the level of the COVID-19 response among the general people of Bangladesh through their COVID-19 basic knowledge, attitude and practice level to reduce the outbreak. A rapid selfadministered online survey was conducted during the COVID-19 lockdown period in Bangladesh. Convenience and snowball sampling technique were followed in this study. The online survey was open for all Bangladeshi general people whether they were infected or not. For this study, total 616 Bangladeshi respondents participated where majority of them were from Dhaka city, one of the worst COVID-19 affected cities in the world. Normality of data was checked before statistical analysis. Majority of the respondents reported moderate safety of their current place from COVID-19 with high concern of their mental health during COVID-19 lockdown period. The total COVID-19 responses among these people were moderate along with the alarming high percentages of low COVID-19 responses. The respondents reported moderate COVID-19 knowledge level and moderate attitude level toward ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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The deadliest coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is taking thousands of lives worldwide and presents an extraordinary challenge to mental resilience. This study assesses mental health status during the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated factors among informal waste workers in Bangladesh. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in June 2020 among 176 informal waste workers selected from nine municipalities and one city corporation in Bangladesh. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was used to assess respondents’ mental health. The study found that 80.6% of the individuals were suffering from psychological distress; 67.6% reported anxiety and depression, 92.6% reported social dysfunction, and 19.9% reported loss of confidence. The likelihood of psychological distress (Risk ratio [RR]: 1.23, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02–1.48) was significantly higher for female than male. Multiple COVID-19 symptoms of the family members (RR: 1.20, 95% CI: 1.03–1.41), unawareness about COVID-19 infected neighbor (RR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.04–1.41), income reduction (RR: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.06–2.41) and daily household meal reduction (RR: 1.34; 95% CI: 1.03–1.73) were also found to be associated with psychological distress. These identified factors should be considered in policy-making and support programs for the informal waste workers to manage the pandemic situation as well as combating COVID-19 related psychological challenges.

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