A Corona Virus Diseases 2019 (COVID-19) Knowledge Possessed by Primary Healthcare Workers in Ebonyi State, South-East Nigeria

The general objective of this study was to investigate COVID-19 knowledge
possessed by primary healthcare workers (PHWs) in Ebonyi State, South-East
Nigeria. Specifically, the study determined general knowledge of COVID-19,
knowledge of: signs and symptoms, mode of transmission, and COVID-19
protocols possessed by PHW. The design was survey. The population was 1630
PHWs in Ebonyi state. Multi-stage sampling was used to select a sample of 400
respondents. Data were analyzed using frequencies and percentages. Major
findings of the study show that PHWs possessed knowledge of indicators of the
general knowledge of COVID-19 in varying frequencies (F) and percentages (%).
Some of these indicators included: COVID-19 is a pandemic disease, 360(91.6%), a
global emergency 376(95.7%), has high infectivity 210(53.4%), most coronavirus-led
illnesses are generally mild, among others. Other findings are nine signs and
symptoms of COVID-19 including, fever 374(95.2%), cough 375(95.4%), shortness
of breath 362(92.1%), and others. Mode of transmission of COVID-19 include
through droplets 373(94.9%), close contact 369(93.9%), and contaminated surfaces
352(89.6%). COVID-19 protocols knowledge possessed by PHWs were sneezing on
the inner side of the elbow 302(76.8%), the use of face mask 291(74%), hand
washing 384(97.7%), use of PPE 288(73.3%), single-use or disposable equipment
329(83.7%), among others. Based on the findings, three recommendations were
made.