Response of the Public to Preventive Measures of COVID-19 in Iraqi Kurdistan

On March 1, 2020, the Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) announced 4 confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). We aimed to explore the response of the public toward the prevention principles against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The investigators inv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness 2021-10, Vol.15 (5), p.e17-e25
Main Authors: Abdulah, Deldar Morad, Aziz Qazli, Salem Said, Suleman, Sherzad Khudeida
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Curfews
Data collection
Disease Outbreaks
Disease prevention
Disease transmission
Epidemics
Health policy
Humans
Infections
Masks
Middle Aged
Original Research
Pathogens
Public health
Questionnaires
Respiratory Aerosols and Droplets
SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Shopping centers
Social networks
Viruses
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Summary:On March 1, 2020, the Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) announced 4 confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). We aimed to explore the response of the public toward the prevention principles against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The investigators invited individuals from different geographic areas of Duhok Governorate of Iraqi Kurdistan in March 2020. The mean age of the participants was 25.74 (16-95 years). The mean score and prevalence of fear toward SARS-CoV-2 infection was 4.40 of 10 and 81.9%, respectively. A small percentage of participants did not minimize their exposures by reducing close contacts and transmission of respiratory droplets (14.5%) and visited public areas during the epidemic (28.7%). The study revealed that 30.8% of the participants do not use face masks or tissues when they sneeze in public areas. Most of the participants wash their hands when they suspect a possible transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen (94.6%) and clean or disinfect pathogen contamination-suspected areas at home (84.6%). The study also revealed that some participants (11.2%), due to a lower education, did not visit a medical clinic when they experienced possible symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Participants agreed with the health policies of KRG against the COVID-19 outbreak (90.8%). Some individuals do not adhere to preventive measures against SARS-CoV-2 infection.
ISSN:1935-7893
1938-744X
DOI:10.1017/dmp.2020.233