A Community Based Study on COVID-19 Preventive Practices and Associated Problems among the Urban Population of Kathua City (J&K)

Abstract

Introduction: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to full blown pandemic situation all over the world. Looming concerns over COVID-19 have prompted large-scale preventive & containment strategies at the national, state as well as local levels. Aim and objectives: 1. To study the adherence to different preventive practices against COVID-19 practiced by the general population of our geographical region of interest. 2. To study the problems in adherence of those practices by the population. Methodology: It was a cross sectional questionnaire based study conducted in September- October, 2020 in which 558 participants (>18 years) residing in our geographical area of interest, Kathua city, were selected using purposive sampling. Data was entered in the MS Excel for analysis and was analyzed using SPSS 22.0 Results:Approximately 89.9%, 87.9%. 79.03% and 93.5% participants were following preventive practices like regular hand-washing with soap, use of face mask, use of sanitizer and physical/ social distancing respectively. Conclusion: Individual magnitude of following preventive practices was high but people were not following all the prescribed preventive measures.