Awareness amongst Non-teaching Professionals Regarding COVID-19 in a Rural Teaching Hospital: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has enforced a huge burden on the primary health care systems around the world to deal with this global health challenge. The recent global threat of this pandemic is rapidly progressing and has placed a high priority on investigation of medicaments. The rapid rise in COVID-19 occurred during the first week of March 2020, wherein, cases of COVID-19 reached over 100 countries with more than 100,000 cases reported. Aim: To assess the knowledge and perception regarding COVID-19 amongst non-teaching professionals of a rural teaching hospital. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study and was conducted over a period of two months from start of May, 2020 to end of June, 2020. Total number of participants enrolled were 70. Each questionnaire had a total of 27 questions in their vernacular language, through which their knowledge (9 questions) and perception (18 questions) regarding COVID-19 were assessed. Moreover, one question related to five steps of the 20 second handwash technique was also included with pictorial graphics. Questionnaires filled by the participants were collected for statistical analysis and the results were expressed as percentage. Results: A total of 70 participants were included in the present study. Regarding questions related to knowledge of coronavirus, 91.43% of participants had heard about the recent coronavirus. However, 68.57% were not aware about coronavirus spread from person-to-person through small drops from the nose or mouth, that can be dispersed widely through an infected person when they cough or breathe. Nearly 44.29% participants knew that coronavirus can cause difficulty in breathing. Concerning questions related to prevention and safety, all the participants were aware of wearing face masks. Conclusion: Though majority of the participants are aware about coronavirus, they had lack of in-depth knowledge as seen in their perception of knowledge through detailed questions. Hence, there is a need for increased awareness regarding the symptoms, implementation of precautionary measures and guidelines laid down by the authorities from time to time