Social distancing and preventive practices of government employees in response to COVID-19 in Ethiopia

  1. Wakgari Deressa
  2. Alemayehu Worku
  3. Workeabeba Abebe
  4. Sefonias Getachew
  5. Wondwossen Amogne

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Abstract

Public health and social interventions are critical to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Ethiopia has implemented a variety of public health and social measures to control the pandemic. This study aimed to assess social distancing and public health preventive practices of government employees in response to COVID-19. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,573 government employees selected from 46 public institutions located in Addis Ababa. Data were collected from 8 th to 19 th June 2020 using a paper-based self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 23.0. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. Binary logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with outcome variables (perceived effectiveness of facemask wearing to prevent coronavirus infection, and COVID-19 testing). Majority of the participants reported facemask wearing (96%), avoiding close contact with people including handshaking (94.8%), consistently followed government recommendations (95.6%), frequent handwashing (94.5%), practiced physical distancing (89.5%), avoided mass gatherings and crowded places (88.1%), restricting movement and travelling (71.8%), and stayed home (35.6%). More than 80% of the participants perceived that consistently wearing a facemask is highly effective in preventing coronavirus infection. Respondents from Oromia perceived less about the effectiveness of wearing 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. Respondents between 40–49 years old (adjusted OR = 0.41, 95% CI:0.22–0.76) and 50–66 years (adjusted OR = 0.43, 95% CI:0.19–0.95) were less likely tested for coronavirus than the younger age groups. Similarly, respondents from Oromia were less likely to test for coronavirus (adjusted OR = 0.26, 95% CI:0.12–0.56) than those from national level. Participants who were sure about the availability of COVID-19 testing were more likely to test for coronavirus. About 57% of the respondents perceived that the policy measures in response to the pandemic were inadequate. The findings showed higher social distancing and preventive practices among the government employees in response to COVID-19. Rules and regulations imposed by the government should be enforced and people should properly apply wearing facemasks, frequent handwashing, social and physical distancing measures as a comprehensive package of COVID-19 prevention and control strategies.

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  1. Version published to 10.1371/journal.pone.0257112
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.12.15.20248271: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    NIH rigor criteria are not applicable to paper type.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Statistical analyses: Data were entered into the Census and Survey Processing System (CSPro) software package, version 7.2 (U.S. Census Bureau and ICF Macro) and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 (SPSS Inc., IBM, USA).
    SPSS
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Limitations: This study had some limitations including selection bias that deserve explanations. First, the study only included government employees in Addis Ababa, and it failed to include unemployed people or other individuals working in non-governmental or private institutions, leading to concerns about the representativeness of the sample. There might be differences in adapting protective health measures between employed and unemployed people as well as between employees of governmental and non-governmental institutions. Second, due to the threat of COVID-19 and the physical distancing rule, it was not possible to conduct either a face-to-face interview or a community-based representative study. Third, the data presented in this study are based on retrospective self-reports of respondents without verification, thus the results might be subject to social desirability and recall biases. Conclusions: Despite the limitations, this study generated valuable information about protective behaviors of COVID-19 among government employees. The findings showed higher social distancing and preventive practices in response to COVID-19. In the current pandemic scenario, people should follow the Governments’ instructions and properly apply social distancing measures, wearing facemasks, and washing hands frequently with water and soap. Rules and regulations imposed by the Government should be properly enforced in order to control the pandemic. The findings have significant implications in...

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

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  3. Version published to 10.1101/2020.12.15.20248271v1 on medRxiv