With increasing daily incidence and mortality, the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been a threat to public health and human co-existence since its outbreak in December 2019. Globally, COVID-19 has ravaged over 200 countries and has resulted in over a million deaths within few months of its outbreak. As the disease curve begins to flatten in most countries, the instituted regulatory guidelines were receded to mitigate the effect on citizens and national economy. Hence, we assessed the knowledge and level of adherence of Nigerians and Egyptians to the COVID-19 precautionary measures. A web-based cross-sectional questionnaire was utilized to obtain 915 respondents via a convenient sampling technique. Most Egyptians (87%) had satisfactory COVID-19 knowledge compared to Nigerians (40%). Age (18 – 30 years), tertiary education and educational background (medical or scientific) were major factors that influenced respondents’ COVID-19 knowledge levels. The level of adherence of most respondents (59.1%) to COVID-19 precautionary measures was unsatisfactory. Although majority (73%) believes that the precautionary measures are required to curtail the menace of COVID-19. Only a few (57%) use face mask in public, avoided touching their eyes or mouth with unwashed hands (45%), avoided non-essential travel (36%), go out only for essential reasons (28%) and keep at least 2-meters distance (27%). The coronavirus pandemic and the instituted regulatory policies had a negative effect on respondents’ education, school or job (90.3%), finance (87.9%) and social interaction (87.5%).Assessing the knowledge and level of adherence to COVID-19 precautionary measures can prove effective in identifying and modifying measures in place to reduce the COVID-19 burden. Information on social media platforms on COVID-19 must be monitored and verified to ensure the right information is disseminated. Both countries showed a good knowledge of the disease but adherence to the precautionary measures is unsatisfactory. We therefore encourage increased adherence to the guidelines in order to avoid an unnecessary second wave of the disease in Africa. Similarly, with the adverse effect of the pandemic on people’s finance, education, job and social interaction, support should be made available to cushion these effects on the populace.
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