Socio-ecological factors affecting compliance with COVID-19 preventative measures, amongst staff and students at a selected university in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

Corona virus was declared a pandemic worldwide in 2019. In South Africa, COVID-19 became noticeable from the fifth of March 2020 when the first case was reported and confirmed. To protect staff and students, educational institutions, like universities, were forced to close, and were only to re-open with COVID-19 precautionary measures in place. The purpose of this study was to investigate socio-ecological factors that contributed to non-compliance to COVID-19 preventative measures amongst staff and students at a selected university campus, as a baseline to inform interventions for future pandemics. The study adopted a quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive, online survey design, with respondents selected through convenience sampling. The collected data was analysed through SPSS version 29.0. The researcher ensured that research ethics - informed consent, obtaining permission, as well as ensuring confidentiality, beneficence and privacy - were adhered to. The study findings indicated that most of the respondents (86.9%) where aware of COVID-19, however, the university’s student representatives council (SRC) members (55,5%) were not compliant with Covid-19 preventative measures. The results also indicated that a significant number of respondents (72.3%) were not aware of the COVID-19 regulations of wearing face masks on the campus. Furthermore, a total of 389 respondents attested that they did know about the penalties for not wearing a mask in public. The researcher recommends that the Department of Public Health should collaborate with campus health and organise health education awareness campaigns which would emphasise the importance of wearing masks and encouraging staff and students, especially public figures such as SRC members, to adhere to the standard precautions against pandemics like, COVID-19.