Research consultancy

INFLUENCE OF COMMUNITY AWARENESS TO ADHERENCE TO S.O.P.S IN MINIMIZING THE SPREAD OF COVID-19

ARE OF FOCUS

Corona viruses are a group of related viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans, corona viruses cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses include some cases of the common cold (which is caused also by certain other viruses, predominantly rhinoviruses), while more lethal varieties can cause SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. Corona Virus has signs and symptoms similar to the common cold but is dangerous and if not reported early and managed by Health Workers it can cause severe illnesses in humans and can lead to death. There are ongoing studies on the origins of Coronavirus. However, the current outbreak started in a large animal and seafood market in China, in a city called Wuhan (Chathappady, Palissery, & Sebastian, 2021).

According to Coerdt, & Khachemoune, (2021), coronavirus likely originated in bats or pangolins. The first transmission to humans was in Wuhan, China. Since then, the virus has mostly spread through person-to-person contact. COVID-19 causes a respiratory illness in people and animals and can spread from person-to person through sneezing and coughing droplets.

Coronavirus is spread from human-to-human when an infected person’s sneeze or cough droplets come into contact with others. It can also spread when a person touches a contaminated surface, e.g. desk, chair, door handle etc. then touches their eyes, nose and/or mouth (Glaunsinger, 2020). Everyone is at risk. However, severe symptoms and death appear more frequently among older people. People with underlying health conditions such as lung or heart diseases, renal failure or weak immune systems are noted to be at a higher risk of infection. Most patients who have been seen so far present with; Fever, Cough, Sore throat, Running nose and Difficulty breathing (Chathappady, Palissery, Sebastian, 2021).

In Banda one of the main causes of COVID-19 is mainly as a result of person to person contact, most people do not want to wear mask and also still want to shake hands this has been one of the reasons why there is cases of COVID-19 in Banda.

According to (Glaunsinger, 2020) the following are some of the ways of preventing COVID-19 Be on the lookout and avoid close contact with persons who show flu-like symptoms, Cover your mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing., Regularly wash your hands with soap and running water, Whenever possible avoid handling cash and try to use alternative payment methods such as mobile money or debit/credit cards, Ensure you wash your hands thoroughly with soap and running water after handling cash , Thoroughly cook meat and eggs and Avoid unprotected contact with live wild or farm animals.

Community awareness often refers to the degree that people generally know about each other, about social norms and people’s different roles within the community, and about issues that affect the community (Aldila, et al., 2020). Community awareness is essential as it enable the community to reduce on their resentment towards specific laws that the government may have put in place. Having a proper community awareness is very critical towards achieving community acceptance of given laws and policies and this increases community participation towards their common cause, Community awareness as describe by Hill is the best way where in family elders recognize their role in the family& recognize their personal capabilities and strengths& appreciate their responsibilities in the community regarding a specific activity in the community (Prandi et al., 2020).

Awareness of any pandemic is very essential to the community as it enables the community to be prepared and provide the support to the vulnerable population to help in reducing the risk of the disease spreading further to other members. Awareness of the presence of covid-19 Pandemic has helped the community members in different communities to reduce on accept the S.O.Ps like Hand washing, putting on face masks, maintaining social disturbance without being rebellious to the law enforcers (MacPhail, et al., 2020).

Owen (2020) indicates that there is currently a slight reduction on the COVID-19 spread because of the strict adherence to COVID-19 S.O.Ps by different communities for example in the Asian countries were the observance of S.O.Ps has been highly emphasized the reducing in the Cases has been very high. In order to ensure that the strict observance most of the business have been carried to an online platform so as to reduce on the chances of people get in contact and increase the spread of COVID-19.

In the effort of combating with COVID-19, a great tribute to the Public Healthcare Systems whose strategy and efforts has played a very effective role all over the world in decreasing the number of fatalities and this to large extend has been praised on the high level of community awareness globally Uganda inclusive.

1.2 Description of site

The study will be carried out in Banda Parish which is one of the parishes of Nakawa Division. Nakawa Division in Kampala Uganda. Banda is bordered by . Gayaza, Kireka Wakiso, Ntinda, Nakawa, Bugolobi,Mutungo Biina and Luzira.

According to UBO, 2019, Nakawa Division in which Banda is part of has has a population of 318,447 (UBOS, 2014), 51% of whom are women and 84,793 households. Data from the Mapping exercise was analysed as per the WHO/JMP (JMP, 2017) Sanitation service levels.

1.2 Statement of the problem

There has been an increased number of cases in CORONA virus in Uganda and also in Banda , this has led the government of Uganda to put up measures like closing down schools, worship Centres and many other key sector of the economy , this has also hard unmanageable impacts to the people (Chughtai et al., 2021).

According to WHO, (2021) 4,481,152 people have died so far from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak as of August 26, 2021, however its rate of spread is one which is more faster than almost all the pandemics ever been in the world, as currently there more than 213,000,000 people who have contracted the Corona virus. Despite the high deaths numbers due to technology available there has been very high community awareness globally through the communication channels like social media (face book, you tube, Google plus), radios, television, and newspapers.

Currently in Uganda there has been 119,000 cases of corona virus with a total of 2,968 deaths, despite the government of Uganda continuous community awareness strategies the corona virus cases have been rising in the country. This therefore has made many researchers to question community awareness, adherence to S.O.P.S in minimizing the spread of Covid-19

1.4 Research questions

What is the role of self-management among community in minimizing the spread of COVID-19?
What are the roles of Putting on a mask, washing Hands among community members on minimizing the spread of COVID-19?

What is the influence of community culture on minimizing the spread of COVID-19

1.6 Justifications of the study.

COVID-19 has led to one of the worlds’ economic challenges of the 21^st century and according to International labor Organization, 114 million jobs were lost in 2020, which, in combination with working-hour reductions within employment, resulted in working-hour losses approximately four times as high as during the financial crisis in 2009. The International Labour Organization estimates that the working hours lost in 2020 (compared to pre-pandemic levels) were equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs, leading to $3.7 trillion in lost labor income, this level of challenges in the global community therefore has inspired the researcher to carry out the study in the local community of Nakawa Division.

COVID-19 has also affected the people way of life and as result people are no longer advised to go the bars and parties this has therefore made it worth carrying out this study.

COVID-19 has led to many deaths both in Uganda and globally as this is one of the reasons why it is imperative to carry out the study.

1.7 significance of the study

The study will provide information regarding the role of self-management in minimizing the spread of COVID-19 in the community.

The study will provide information to the Government on the influence of self-motivation in minimizing the spread of COVID-19.

The study will also enable the future academicians find information regarding the roles of Putting on a mask, washing Hands on minimizing the spread of COVID-19.

The study will also provide necessary information regarding the influence of culture on minimizing the spread of COVID-19