Knowledge, perception, and fear among the global population towards newly evoked variant Omicron (B.1.1.529)

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-1), notoriously known as COVID-19, emerged in 2019 and was responsible for causing acute respiratory collapse. Moreover, in September 2020, new variant cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 were reported in the United Kingdom, with many patients and deaths. This study aimed to see knowledge, perception, and fear among the global population towards a new variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, known as Omicron (B.1.1.529). This online cross-sectional global study was conducted during the emergence of the B.1.1.529 variant, also known as the Omicron variant. The survey was carried out from 2nd December 2021 to 3rd January 2022. The descriptive analysis was presented as frequencies (N), percentages (%), and mean ± standard deviation (m ± SD). The association between dependent and categorical independent variables was determined using the Chi-square test (x2). Statistical analysis was performed by using SPSS version 23. Of 353 respondents, approximately 61% were females. One hundred fifty-four respondents were in the age group of 18–27 years. The average age was 31.53±10.3 (mean± SD). The majority of respondents (43.9%) were from Indonesia. The mean knowledge score about the Omicron variant was 3.18±1.14. Our study suggests that people have some knowledge about the new variant, Omicron (B.1.1.529). Besides, there was a significant association (p = 0.05) for the perception of the fatality rate of Omicron among the respondents from different countries. However, there is still an ample research gap in enlightening people about this infection (B.1.1.529).