Evaluation of knowledge, impacts and government intervention strategies during the COVID – 19 pandemic in Nigeria

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 is a novel strain of coronavirus which is ravaging many countries, and this has become a global public health concern. With the increasing number of COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths in Nigeria, the pandemic has led to massive public reactions. This data attempted to evaluate the knowledge, impacts, and government intervention during the pandemic. An online survey was conducted using a questionnaire shared via social media using a Snowball sampling technique. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and analysis of variance (ANOVA). A total of 387 responses was received. Results show that a significant number of respondents had adequate knowledge about COVID-19 modes of transmission, symptoms, and preventive measures. Respondents maintain personal hygiene as 67% wash their hands with soap. The pandemic has caused worry (65%), anxiety (42%), panic (35%), and depression (16%) among respondents, even as government intervention is seen as inadequate by 70%. There is a need for mental health support and increased information campaigns about COVID-19.

Community-based interventions for preventing COVID-19 transmission in low- and middle-income countries:  A systematic review

“…The level of attitude in the articles included in this systematic review ranged from as low as 59% (18) to as high as 94% (20). The ndings of this review have also revealed that age, gender, level of education, background, and nationality were reported to have had a signi cant impact on the attitude towards community-based COVID-19 preventive measures.…”

“…Age (18-39 years), education (college/bachelors), and background of respondents were factors in uencing knowledge levels (19). While in a study conducted by (20) in Nigeria, the knowledge of the outbreak of COVID-19 was in uenced by the age (p < 0.05), gender (p < 0.05), level of education (p < 0.05), marital status (p < 0.05) and employment status (p < 0.05). In a study conducted in Uganda by Usman et al (2020)(4), found that the percentage score among those having their phones connected and those not having connected to the internet on knowledge was 77.00% and 74.53%, respectively.…”

“…Six studies (4,7,16,(18)(19)(20) met the inclusion criteria for this systematic review. All the included studies were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and published between the months of April and August, 2020.…”

“…All the included studies were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and published between the months of April and August, 2020. Of these, one study was conducted in Indonesia (18), one study was conducted in Nigeria and Egypt (19), one study was conducted in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia and South Korea(21), one study was conducted in Nigeria (20), and two studies were conducted in Uganda (4,7). See table 2.…”

“…Three authors independently reviewed the six articles; (4,7,(15)(16)(17)(18) included in this systematic review. All the included articles were found to be of highest quality (scored "yes" on all the methodological quality criteria) except one study by Usman et al, (2020) which scored a "no" on one criterion (Is the sample representative of the target population?)…”