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COVID-19 TRANSMISSION AND PREVENTION: KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS AMONG DIPLOMA IN PHARMACY STUDENTS

COVID-19 is a contagious disease caused by a novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2, discovered in Wuhan City, China. It is a disease characterised by symptoms such as fever, dry cough, fatigue, headache and breathlessness. COVID-19 renders an immense impact on the daily lives of people around the world as the disease exponentially emerged into a global pandemic. With the spread of the disease, comes the spread of information or misinformation amongst the public. Thus, objectives of this study are to assess the students’ preferred sources for information regarding COVID-19 and to evaluate their level of knowledge and awareness about the disease. A total of 189 students participated in the online cross-sectional survey conducted from April until May 2021. The survey consisted of two sections which were structured to assess students’ knowledge, awareness and their preferred sources of information on COVID-19. The obtained data were analysed and displayed as frequencies and percentages. Our data revealed that the electronic media is the medium of choice as almost all respondents (98.9%) gained information regarding COVID-19 through social media and the television (91.5%) whereas first-hand information i.e. from community leaders and healthcare workers were the least chosen as an information provider or source with 9.0% and 31.2% respectively. Findings concerning the level of knowledge on COVID-19 showed that all the respondents are well-informed of the global pandemic with 58.2% and 41.8% scored excellent and good marks, respectively. In line with the respondents’ great knowledge level score, this study also revealed that the subjects possess good awareness of precautionary measures and good practices to prevent the transmission of the COVID-19 disease. Data also showed that all respondents were aware of the significance of hand washing and avoiding crowded places to break the transmission chain of COVID-19. Our study indicated that these students possess high levels of knowledge and awareness about the transmission and prevention of COVID-19. Acquiring, applying and practising the right knowledge and understanding about the disease is crucial to ensure better containment of the on-going pandemic.