Abstract
Background Public health measures are critical to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Ethiopia has implemented a variety of essential public health measures in response to the spread of the virus. This study aimed to assess social distancing and preventive practices of government employees in response to COVID-19.
Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1573 government employees selected from 46 public institutions (16 National, 18 from Addis Ababa City Administration, and 12 from Oromia Regional State) located in Addis Ababa. Data were collected from 8th to 19th June 2020 using a paper-based self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 23.0. ANOVA and t-tests were applied to assess the difference between groups. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with outcome variables.
Results The majority of the participants reported wearing of facemask (96%), avoiding close contact with people including handshaking (94.5%), frequent had washing (94.1%), maintaining physical distancing (89.5%), avoiding mass gatherings (88.1%), and restricting movement and travelling (84.1%). More than 80% of the participants perceived that consistently wearing a facemask is highly effective in preventing the transmission of coronavirus. Participants from Oromia reported statistically significantly lower odds of perceived effectiveness of facemask in preventing coronavirus infection (adjusted OR=0.27, 95% CI:0.17-0.45). About 19% of the respondents reported that they had ever tested for COVID-19. Participants within the age groups of 18-29 were more likely to test for coronavirus than the older age groups. Whilst, respondents from Oromia were less likely to test for coronavirus than those from national level (adjusted OR=0.31, 95% CI:0.16-0.60). About one-third (31.3%) of the respondents strongly agreed that the policy responses that the Government had taken to contain the spread of coronavirus were reasonable, and 38.5% agreed with the policy responses.
Conclusions The findings showed higher social distancing and preventive practices among the government employees in response to COVID-19. People should properly apply social distancing measures, wearing facemasks, and washing hands frequently with water and soap as a comprehensive package of SARS-CoV-2 prevention and control strategies. Rules and regulations imposed by the Government should be properly enforced in order to control the pandemic.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding Statement
This study was funded by Addis Ababa University.
Author Declarations
I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
Yes
The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:
IRB of the College of Health Sciences at Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived.
Yes
I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).
Yes
I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.
Yes
Data Availability
Data will be available based on reasonable request to the corresponding author
Abbreviations
- ANOVA
- Analysis of variance
- AAU
- Addis Ababa University
- COVID-19
- Coronavirus disease 2019
- CSPro
- Census Surveys Professional
- EPHI
- Ethiopian Public Health Institute
- HSD
- Honestly significant difference
- IRB
- Institutional Review Board
- MoH
- Ministry of Health
- SARS-CoV-2
- Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
- SD
- Standard deviation
- SPH
- School of Public Health
- SPSS
- Statistical Package for Social Sciences
- WHO
- World Health Organization