Public awareness in Egypt about COVID-19 spread in the early phase of the pandemic

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate public awareness in Egypt related to the coronavirus. METHODS: An online structured survey was conducted during March and April 2020 to assess coronavirus knowledge. The questionnaire was divided into 6 parts consisting of 39 questions for a total possible score of 0 to 39; to assess the participants’ general knowledge [10 items]; symptoms knowledge [2 items]; transmission knowledge [6 items]; preventive knowledge [4 items]; treatment knowledge [6 items], and public knowledge of governmental and international efforts [10 items]. RESULTS: A total of 726 participants participated, 97.5% of them knew the main clinical symptoms of coronaviruses. 99% believed that following the etiquette of coughing, sneezing, or wearing a medical mask is important to reduce infection transmission. 80.5% of the participants believed that there is no effective treatment or vaccine available for the coronavirus. The important role of the international organizations to overcome the coronavirus was known by (92.3%). 65.2% believed that the Ministry of Health provided reliable data on the number of infections or death. 27.9% of the participants consider coronavirus infection as a stigma. The average score of this survey was 31.75/39 (81.4%) regarding the knowledge about the disease. CONCLUSION: Overall, the study participants’ had good knowledge of coronavirus and the international efforts to confront the coronavirus. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Further study is required to evaluate the effect of such good knowledge on decreasing the infection rate.