Perception of facility readiness and health worker willingness to participate in the COVID-19 pandemic response in a treatment centre in Nigeria

Objectives: The study aimed to investigate health workers’ knowledge, self - preparedness and willingness to volunteer for outbreak response and perceived institutional readiness to manage confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19.Methods: Across-sectional study was carried out among 300 consenting healthcare workers in a COVID19 treatment facility in Edo  state, Nigeria. Data were collected between April and May 2020 using selfadministered questionnaires. Analysis was done using  Statistical Package for Social Sciences, with Chisquare test and logistic regression applied with a 95% confidence interval. All ethical considerations were met.Results: One hundred and seventeen (39.0%) respondents were willing to volunteer in the response, with respondents who were confident in their ability to suspect a case, communicate risk effectively and who believed the facility should be a treatment centre being 3.55, 2.07 and 2.30 times more likely to volunteer respectively (P< 0.001, P = 0.04 and P = 0.02 respectively). Two hundred and seven (69.0%) respondents felt the facility was ready to manage confirmed cases. Management commitment 255 (85.0%) was the factor acknowledged as most indicative that the facility was ready to handle cases, with availabiltiy of personal protective wears as the least mentioned 166 (55.3%).Conclusion: Many health workers who should be in the frontline were unwilling to volunteer to manage cases, though perceived facility readiness was high. Health managers should take steps to address identified barriers and provide conducive work  environments. Keywords: COVID-19, Health providers, Willingnes