Knowledge, awareness and practices of Pakistani professionals amid-COVID-19 outbreak

End of the year 2019 marks an unprecedented outbreak of a pandemic named COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2. It was first discovered in China and later spread to the whole world, currently inflicting almost 200 countries. After China, few other countries have emerged as potential epicenters of this disease including the US, Italy, Spain and Pakistan, as indicated by the World Health Organization (WHO). Since proper preventive and curative measures in the form of a vaccine or medication are currently unavailable throughout the world, the only remedy devised to stop the spread of this virus is self-isolation. Such a measure necessitates ample awareness and understanding among people to avoid actions that lead to the spread of this virus. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country in the world (212.2 million) and has a record of contagious outbreaks in the past. Therefore, it is key to evaluate the general understanding regarding the cause, spread and control of this disease in Pakistani population and acquire data to anticipate the possible spread and persistence of this disease to design relevant preventive measures. We have attempted to collect such data from professionals who are susceptible to acquiring the infection due to an unavoidable exposure. Keeping in view the current lock down, we have relied on an internet based collection of data by filling a self-designed questionnaire that is responded to by 1132. Descriptive and Frequency Analysis were performed on the responses received using MS Excel and SPSS software. A total of 1132 individuals responded to the questionnaire among which include academic (45.8%), non-academic (20.8%), healthcare (7.8%), security (5.9%) and other (19.7%) professionals. The questionnaire addressed the level of basic information regarding the cause, spread, cure and prevention of this disease among professionals, in an attempt to provide directions for awareness campaigns at different levels in Pakistan and provide a model for similar outbreaks in the future.To our expectations, almost after a month of the coronavirus outbreak in Pakistan, above 50% to up to 90% of the recorded responses against every question showed ample understanding regarding the cause, spread and control of the disease which is an indicator of effective public awareness campaigns throughout the country largely based on media drive.