The Extent of Commitment of Saudis During Holy Ramadan to Social Distancing Measures Required for the Prevention of Transmission of COVID-19

Abstract

Coronavirus disease (hereafter COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020. People were admitted to hospitals complaining of fever, fatigue, cough, and difficulty breathing. Consequently, the strategy being adopted to limit the spread of COVID-19 is to encourage people in society to follow preventive measures. We aimed to estimate how the knowledge of and compliance with safe distancing measures affected the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia during Holy Ramadan. A cross-sectional survey was implemented in the central regions of Saudi Arabia from 24th of April to 22nd May to coincide with Ramadan. The study was conducted using a Google forum distributed through social media. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling of the Saudi population. In total, 1515 participants completed the survey. A significant difference between males and females was observed in answering questions about committing to: not attending gatherings, keeping a safe distance, not making physical contact, and staying at home during partial lockdown. In general, participants in our study demonstrated excellent adherence to all social distance measures, considered essential for limiting the spread and progression of COVID-19. However, attitudes regarding reduced physical contact was poor in the Makkah region, which necessitates greater efforts to educate and inform people about the associated risks.

A Study on the Compliance, Risk Perception and Attitude of University of Khartoum Medical Students to Safety Measures Against COVID-19 during the Period of Lockdown, Khartoum, Sudan

“…Coronavirus disease 2019(1)(COVID-19) also known as 2019-nCoV (2)[a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) (1) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. The novel virus rst appeared in Wuhan City, in the Hubei Province of China at the end of December, 2019 (2)(3)(4)(5). The virus continued to spread around globally with people from many countries suffering the death of loved ones and di cult nancial situations (5).…”

“…The novel virus rst appeared in Wuhan City, in the Hubei Province of China at the end of December, 2019 (2)(3)(4)(5). The virus continued to spread around globally with people from many countries suffering the death of loved ones and di cult nancial situations (5). The clinical disease termed COVID-19 is caused by a new betacoronavirus, now given the name SARS-CoV-2.…”

“…In addition, it has been established that infection can transfer from a person carrying the virus without demonstrating signs or symptoms of infection (asymptomatic). (5) Preventive measures, which include observing proper hand hygiene (5) through increased hand washing and use of sanitizing hand gels, covering coughs(6), maintaining social distancing, avoiding crowded places, (5) wearing masks(6,7) and observing quarantine protocols. Furthermore, closing public places such as schools, restaurants, barbershops, and workplaces whilst letting people work remotely from home have also been introduced to reduce the spread of the virus (5).…”

“…A major component of these efforts applied by public health authorities is self-quarantine. (1,10) COVID-19 infection is con rmed to be able to transmit from person to person, especially when there has been close contact with infected individuals within 14 days of the onset of symptoms (5,11). To limit the spread of COVID-19 infection, the strategy being adopted is to encourage people to follow preventive measures, which include observing proper hand hygiene, maintaining social distancing, avoiding crowded places, and observing quarantine protocols.…”

“…To limit the spread of COVID-19 infection, the strategy being adopted is to encourage people to follow preventive measures, which include observing proper hand hygiene, maintaining social distancing, avoiding crowded places, and observing quarantine protocols. Furthermore, closing public places such as schools, restaurants, barbershops, and workplaces whilst letting people work remotely from home have also been introduced to reduce the spread of the virus (5,12). Therefore it is important to assess the compliance rate of the population to these measures to make sure of the e ciency of these measures and try to identify the obstacles and di culties associated with following these measures and address these problems in order to relieve or solve them.…”