Awareness and preventive practices related to COVID-19 pandemic among the Indian public

Abstract

This paper assesses the level of awareness the general public of India maintains about the COVID-19 pandemic which is likely to vary on the basis of their heterogeneous demographic characteristics and examines the efficacy of the preventive practices being followed by them. In this survey based cross-sectional study, with the help of a self-administered questionnaire circulated through various social media platforms for almost two weeks, data were collected online from 2168 literate adult citizens of India. The participants were selected through a convenience sampling technique, and the results indicate a significant difference between the demographic profile of a respondent and his/her knowledge about various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was found that nearly 90% of the respondents were aware of the evolution, the symptoms, and the transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic and almost all of them were following the state-recommended preventive practices. Thus, the overall result of the study reveals that the majority of the Indian population is aware of the pandemic and is being followed.