Knowledge of the participants about COVID- 19:
The majority of participants (80.2%) respond with the right answer
about the incubation period for the COVID-19 virus which is 2- 14 days.
About the main methods of transmission of COVID-19 virus, 26.4% and
7.5% of participants give wrong response about possibility of
transmission through fecal- oral route, and raw food respectively. While
82.2%, 82.5%, 89.1%, 64.4% and 26.4% choose the right methods of
transmission: close contact from person to person, contaminated surface,
coughing and sneezing, air droplets and through body fluids
respectively.
About the main signs and symptoms associated with COVID-19, 96.6%,
95.1%, 94.8%, 91.4% 91.1% and 68.1% of participants think that main
signs and symptoms are fever, shortness of breath, dry cough, headache,
general weakness and diarrhea respectively. Also 27.3%, 23.3%, 19%
and 5.2% think that the symptoms are anorexia, CT ground- glass
opacification, insomnia and ageusia respectively. While 2.3% select the
wrong answer edema.
Regarding sever illness risk factors, participants think that chronic
illness, older adults, cancer patients, smoker, pregnant women and adult
male are at high risk for severe COVID-19, while 7.8% and 4.6% select
the wrong answers : children and adult female respectively.
Few participants (9.5%) think that COVID-19 can only gain inside the
body through the nose but not through the eyes and mouth. Also only 6%
think that healthy carriers of virus who has no cough or fever cannot
spread COVID-19. The majority (98.9%) know that the best way to prevent
COVID-19 is to avoid crowed and stay at home.
As a response to the question about management of mild cases, 73%, and
96.8% of participants select vitamin D and vitamin C respectively,
while some of them select wrong answers e.g. Azithromycin (67.5%),
Oxygen (24.4%). For moderate cases 12.6 % select Amoxicillin, 88.5%
select Azithromycin, and some of them select wrong answers e.g.
Hydoxychloroquine (75.3%), corticosteroids (8.9%). (Table 2)
As general after responding to the knowledge questions, about half of
the participants (51.1%) in the study have good knowledge about
COVID-19.