OBJECTIVES

The objective is to assess general public’s preventive behaviours in response to the outbreak and its difference in populations at different risk levels

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was conducted during February 2020. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed among general population via online platform. The risk level of participants was defined as follow: low risk (no family member, relative or friend suspected or contracted with COVID-19), moderate risk (having family member, relative or friend suspected with COVID-19 or unknown), high risk (having family member, relative or friend contracted with COVID-19). The ANOVA test was used for the comparison.

RESULTS

A total of 1,729 participants were included in the analysis, covering 28 provinces and representing the regional severity of the epidemic. The study showed the proportion of participants taking substantial preventive measures increased dramatically from 18% to 52%, when the human-to-human transmission nature of COVID-19 was declared. And from February onwards, all participants took preventive measures. The mean time spent on learning epidemic information was significantly different among the 3 groups (low risk=1.93 h, moderate risk=2.27 h, high risk=2.38 h, p value<0.001). There were also significant differences in the way the 3 groups consulted online platforms to manage their health, specifically in terms of virus prevention, checking disease symptoms and managing their mental health respectively: high risk (78%, 68%, 41%), moderate risk (76%,65%,39%), low risk (64%,46%,26%) (p values<0.001). The result showed that 98% participants from high risk group were willing to take COVID-19 vaccine if it is available, followed by 97% from moderate risk and 92% from low risk. A significant difference in future COVID-19 vaccination was observed among groups (p value<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The timely adoption of adequate preventive measures in general population played an important role in containing the spread of COVID-19. The population with higher risk exposure was more engaged in anti-virus activities.