Abstract:
A novel coronavirus known as Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) also known as coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory disease that has received attention in the whole world and has spread throughout. The current study investigated the knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 among community members of a selected rural community in the Vhembe district in Limpopo province. The study applied a Quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional survey design to address the study objectives. A self-administered questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. Stratified random sampling was used to select 418 participants from a population of 7780 and 400 responses were received from Collins Chabane’s Njhakanjhaka village. Reliability was tested using Cronbach alpha and the result of the Chronbach Alpha correlation coefficient was 0.95, therefore, the data collection instrument has a high reliability.
Results show that there is no significant difference between participants that agreed or disagreed with the statements regarding knowledge (p-value=0,299>0,05) and that participants were unsure in the knowledge of COVID-19 with a strong association to age group, ethnicity, educational level and religion, (p-value<0,0001). Although there was a negative attitude towards the use and buying of sanitizers, results show that in general participants agreed with the statements related to attitude compared to those who disagreed, (p-value<0,0001) with a strong association to age group, gender, and ethnicity, educational level and religion (p-value<0,000.The majority of participants always follow the practices regarding Covid-19 among community members of Collins Chabane Municipality compared to those who never , (p-value<0,00001), with a strong association to age group, gender, ethnicity, educational level and religion (p-value<0,0001).
This study recommended that due to the lack of knowledge found in this study, the government and the health care authorities need to distribute and share information with the public to counteract potential misinformation.
