![]() ![]() Knowledge, attitudes, and practices with regard to COVID-19 among the Palestinian community are of immense importance and are critical for the community prevention/ control of this pandemic. The unavailability of a definitive treatment or vaccine for COVID-19 at that time emphasized the importance of non-pharmaceutical protective and preventive measures as the only means of combating this disease. During this period, further preventative precautions such as quarantine and testing any suspected carriers were undertaken in an attempt to control this pandemic crisis without overwhelming the country’s limited financial and healthcare resources. On March 5 2020, the Palestinian authorities announced the first seven cases in the city of Bethlehem, which led to the declaration of a 30-day state of emergency. 2020b) Additionally, young people are not invincible against coronavirus world data have shown that a large number of patients were young, among whom many needed hospitalization (Chen et al. Around 80% of patients recover without needing any special treatment, while one out of six patients develop more severe symptoms, including but not limited to difficulty in breathing these patients are most likely to be elderly or with underlying medical conditions, such as high blood pressure, heart problems, or diabetes (ECDC 2020 Wang et al. With regard to the symptoms of COVID-19, some infected people may not experience any symptoms, whereas others may have mild symptoms. These alarming levels of spread and severity of the disease have therefore raised the bar for the entire world to manage this stressful crisis and caused the World Health Organization to officially characterize COVID-19 as a pandemic (WHO/Europe 2020). By July 8, 2020, the virus had reached more than 150 countries, resulting in approximately 12 million infected people, among whom 5 million had recovered and 548,998 had died (WHO 2020a). Consequently, it spread widely throughout the world, with especially large outbreaks occurring in South Korea, Italy, Iran, the USA, and many other countries (World Health Organization 2020). COVID-19 was first discovered during an outbreak in Wuhan, China in December 2019 which led to thousands of deaths. With regard to practices, positive and cautious practices with regard to the COVID- 19 epidemic were carried out by the vast majority of participants.Ĭoronaviruses are a large family of viruses which have been known to cause respiratory infections such as the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) (WHO 2020a, b Epidemiology Working Group for NCIP Epidemic Response, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2020). Our results revealed that students had variable knowledge about COVID-19, and the vast majority depended on the official media briefs in Palestine as a source of information. With regard to the practices, the vast majority of the participants showed a positive and very cautious practice in relation to the COVID-19 epidemic. With regard to students’ practices, fewer negative practices were displayed by students from health professions faculty and the students living at the middle governorate of Palestine, compared to north, south, and Jerusalem dwellers. Multivariate analysis revealed that males, students from health professions and scientific faculties, and those with highly educated parents had manifested a good knowledge level (GKL) about COVID-19. ResultsĪ total of 665 students have completed the online questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 22). ![]() Binary logistic regression was performed to identify and control the confounding factors. Chi-square testing was performed to check for significant association between KAP (knowledge, attitude, and practices) and different socio-demographic variables. The questionnaire was distributed online and filled out by Birzeit University students. Subject and methodsĪ cross-sectional study was carried out a questionnaire was developed based on the WHO, CDC, and ECDC recommendations. This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices toward COVID-19 among Birzeit University students. In Palestine, the first seven cases were documented on March 5 2020, followed by the declaration of the state of emergency. COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, has been characterized as a pandemic, as it spreads all over the world and has so far infected more than 20 million worldwide. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |