Knowledge and perceptions of COVID-19 among government employees in Ethiopia

BackgroundIn the absence of effective treatments or vaccines, the spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic can be minimized by effectively implementing preventive measures. Knowledge and perceptions of the public about COVID-19 play a critical role in behavioral changes. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and perceptions of COVID-19 as well as source of information about the disease among government employees. MethodsA cross-sectional survey of 1,573 government employees from 46 public institutions located in Addis Ababa was undertaken from 8th to 19th June 2020. Paper-based self-administered questionnaires were used for data collection. ANOVA test and t-test were used to assess the difference between groups. ResultsThe respondents demonstrated very high knowledge of the cause of COVID-19 (93%), its main clinical symptoms (>90%), the main modes of transmission (89%), the main preventive measures (>90%). Almost all respondents reported that people with recent travel history (86.8%) or people who had contact with COVID-19 patients (93.5%) were the high-risk groups to be infected with coronavirus. In addition, more than half (50.9%) of the study participants reported that people without travel history nor had contact with confirmed cases are also most likely to be infected with the virus. About 84% of the respondents perceived that older adults and elderly were most at risk to die from COVID-19. Similarly, the majority of the respondents reported that adults with other underlying health problems (95.4%), cigarette smokers (88.1%) and substance users (87.5%) were more likely to die from the disease. An electronic media such as television (85.5%), social media (74.1%), online materials (71.1%) and radio (60.8%) constituted the primary sources of information about COVID-19, followed by healthcare workers (66.6%) and print materials (35.4%). Television (32.2%) and health workers (30.5%) constituted the most trusted sources of information related to COVID-19. ConclusionsThis study has showed higher level of knowledge and favorable perception among respondents about COVID-19. Knowledge and perceptions have great roles in behavioral change and efforts should be focused on improving the perceived susceptibility, severity, and benefits of preventive behavioral changes by providing timely and adequate information.