Department of Botany, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education, Lahore, Pakistan.
College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Jhang, Pakistan.
Front Public Health. 2020 Dec 9;8:602434. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.602434. eCollection 2020.
The World Health Organization has acknowledged coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease as a pandemic. Efforts are being made all over the world to raise awareness to prevent the spread of the disease. The goal of this study was to assess the attitude, perception, and knowledge of Pakistani people toward COVID-19 disease. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in which a questionnaire of 17 questions was transformed online on Google forms and was sent to random individuals online. A total of 1,000 questionnaires from individuals throughout Pakistan were evaluated. The results revealed that 42.9% of the participants knew about COVID-19 through social media, the largest source of information. Most of the participants (48.3%) started working from home amid the lockdown; 39.9% of the participants reported that they wash their hands every hour, and 56.9% participants are using a surgical mask. About thermal scanners, 30.5% of the people answered they may be effective, and 46.0% of the people think COVID-19 is a bioweapon; 59% of the participants think everyone is susceptible, whereas 83.9% of the people recognize fever as a primary symptom; 65.2% of the people are practicing social distancing, whereas 85.1% of the people think social gatherings causes spread of the disease. In general, participants had a good knowledge about the disease and a positive attitude toward protective measures. The effective measures are being taken by the government and the public; still, there remains a need for further awareness campaigns and knowledge of safe interventions to combat the spread of disease.
世界卫生组织已将 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）宣布为大流行。目前全世界都在努力提高认识，以防止疾病的传播。本研究旨在评估巴基斯坦人对 COVID-19 疾病的态度、看法和知识。我们进行了一项横断面调查，将 17 个问题的问卷在线转换为 Google 表格，并分发给在线的随机个人。评估了来自巴基斯坦各地的 1000 份问卷。结果显示，42.9%的参与者通过社交媒体了解 COVID-19，这是最大的信息来源。大多数参与者（48.3%）在封锁期间开始在家工作；39.9%的参与者表示他们每小时洗手一次，而 56.9%的参与者使用外科口罩。关于热扫描仪，30.5%的人认为可能有效，46.0%的人认为 COVID-19 是一种生物武器；59%的参与者认为每个人都易受感染，而 83.9%的人认为发烧是主要症状；65.2%的人在实行社会隔离，而 85.1%的人认为社交聚会会导致疾病传播。总的来说，参与者对该疾病有很好的了解，并对防护措施持积极态度。政府和公众正在采取有效措施，但仍需要进一步开展宣传活动，提高对安全干预措施的认识，以控制疾病的传播。
