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Attitude and Practices of Health Care Professionals and Their Family Members toward Health Care Professionals Dealing with Covid-19 Patients in New Delhi, India

BACKGROUND Coronavirus was noticed in the mid-1930’s and the first case of infection in humans was reported as a cold in 1960. In December 2019, clusters of pneumonia cases caused havoc in China. In order to eliminate the infection in the current pandemic, World Health Organisation (WHO) has furnished several recommendations, online courses, and training sessions to increase knowledge, prevention, and control among the health care workers (HCWs). It is crucial to guarantee the safety of not only the health care professionals but also the people who are in close contact with them. We wanted to assess the attitude and safety practices of family members of health care professionals dealing with Covid-19 patients and if the increasing number of cases in India have altered their reaction. METHODS A cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted from July - August 2020 on HCWs dealing with Covid-19 patients and any close contact personnel such as family members of HCWs in order to avoid the spread of Covid-19 among individuals aged 14 - 60 years. RESULTS A total of 368 respondents participated in the study. Majority of the respondents had a positive attitude. In terms of relation, children had a negative attitude towards having their family member deal with Covid-19 patients (46.2 %; N = 46) whereas, 51.5 % (N = 35) spouses had a more positive outlook and 49.2 % (N = 181) respondents reported that the increasing cases in India had altered their initial reaction. CONCLUSIONS Majority of the participants from our study reported a positive attitude towards a family member working in close contact with a Covid-19 patient. More than 50 % of the participants had undertaken various precautions to restrict the spread of the disease. KEY WORDS Health Personnel, Infectious Disease Transmission, Pandemic, Preventive Practices, Relatives