![]() ![]() The negative or casual approach of the communities and the relatively disadvantageous categories of society pose a social challenge as they underestimate the COVID-19 risk and keep themselves unaware of symptoms. The knowledge, attitude, and practices of the community studied in Ethiopia regarding COVID-19 and results revealed that 53.7% of respondents had a negative attitude towards the COVID-19 pandemic. The little knowledge of disease, negative or casual approach and dangerous practices were the reasons for the spread of COVID-19 infection and subsequent outbreak propagation. Also, effective preventive measures have been recommended to the public including hand washing, social distancing, mask-wearing, respiratory hygiene (covering mouth and nose while coughing or sneezing), household ventilation and disinfection, and reduction of interpersonal contacts by avoiding visiting crowded spaces. Most countries have applied strict prevention and control measures to control the spread of COVID-19, which include general lockdown, obligatory home quarantine, a ban on public gatherings, international flight restrictions, etc. The countries with high advancement in health systems also faced the worst hit of disease as no proven treatments or reliable vaccines are available to control COVID-19. According to some studies, the infection of COVID-19 mainly occurs through air droplets, close contact with infected persons, especially mucous membranes secretions from nose, mouth, or eyes, contaminated surfaces, digestive tract transmission and also reported that infected person can spread the disease to up to 3 other persons. However, some patients in particular the elderly and patients with pre-existing illnesses (like hypertension, cardiac disease, lung disease, cancer, or diabetes) have been identified as potential risk factors for severe disease and mortality. The SARS-CoV-2 infected patients are mostly asymptomatic or generally experience mild symptoms that include fever, dry cough, fatigue, myalgia, and dyspepsia. ![]() COVID-19 indicates the symptoms of acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, difficult-to-tackle metabolic acidosis, and bleeding and coagulation dysfunction. Considering unprecedented mortality and morbidity due to COVID-19 and its impact on humankind, WHO declared it as a serious public health emergency of International concern on Janu. The World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31, 2019, reported the occurrence of an unknown virus, which was then renamed by the International Committee as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The results regarding the risk perception, severity, KAP about COVID-19 provide a collective understanding of the emerging infectious disease among the marine fishers of Maharashtra state of India. The results confirmed the importance of KAP which is reflected in the behavioral responses of the fishers while tackling the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The results of multiple regression analysis revealed that the demographic features of respondents like age, education were significantly contributing to the KAP of the fisher community. The behavior of respondents towards COVID-19 infection was positive and was following sufficient precautionary measures suggested by WHO to protect themselves from COVID-19 infection. Around 95% of respondents were aware of the COVID-19, while almost all respondents knew the medium of infection and symptoms of COVID-19. The results revealed that 70.92% of respondents perceived a low risk of infection because of COVID-19 with M = 1.77 and SD = 0.583, but authors found the perceived severity score high (M = 3.95, SD = 1.21) among the 60.97% of respondents. Appropriate statistical tools were used to analyze the data. The completed responses (n = 533) received from the eligible sample, excluding those outsides of the fisher community and duplicate entries were considered for analysis. The questionnaire was administered through Google form link and the link was disseminated through social media such as Facebook and What’s App. Authors based on the latest recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO) developed the questionnaire and covered the KAP aspects under study. Data were collected through an online survey from 1 st July to 30 th July 2020 during the first peak of COVID-19 in the study area by using the questionnaire. ![]() The knowledge, awareness, and practices (KAP) about COVID-19 among the marine fishers who are engaged in the high-risk occupations and depend on the vulnerable sources of income in the Maharashtra state of India, were investigated to understand the behavioral changes and vulnerability among the respondents because of COVID-19. ![]()
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