Perception of University Students Towards National Efforts at Controlling COVID-19 Pandemics, the Practice of Prevention Measures and its Associated Factors During School Reopening

BACKGROUND: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected many communities including students. Even if restrictions are being lifted in some countries, i.e., Ethiopia, COVID-19 is not gone yet. Adjusting to the “new normal”, an emerging prevention response to the virus, can greatly recover public health and education. Thus, this study aimed to assess students' perception of national efforts at controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, including approaches to prevention measures, and associated factors during campus re-entry. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 682 Debre Berhan University (DBU) students from December 1 to 15, 2020, when students had just gone back to school. The data was entered into Epi-Data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 25.0 statistical software for analysis. The perception and practice of the participants were assessed using a scoring system. Binary logistic regression was run to identify the significant (p ≤ 0.05) predictors of COVID-19 prevention practice. RESULT: The overall high perception and good practice of prevention behaviors were 32%, 95% CI (28.8–35.2), and 37.5%, 95% CI (33.7–41.2), respectively. Being female [AOR (CI) = 1.67 (1.17–2.37)], have a rural residence [AOR (CI) = 1.56 (1.07–2.29)], fathers' education [AOR (CI) = 1.94 (1.06–3.56)], having respiratory disease [AOR (CI) = 2.81 (1.32–5.95)], and information sources from YouTube [AOR (CI) = 1.87 (1.19–2.91)] were significant factors for COVID-19 prevention practice. Besides, a high perception of national efforts at controlling COVID-19 [AOR (CI) = 2.94 (2.04–4.25)] was positively associated with the practice of prevention measures. CONCLUSION: During school reopening, most students had a low perception of national efforts at controlling COVID-19 and poor prevention practices. Socio-demographics, having a chronic illness, information sources, and perception of national efforts were factors of COVID-19 prevention practice. Thus, raising the perception of the national efforts, promoting precautionary measures, managing chronic illnesses, and disseminating information through YouTube are critical to preventing and controlling COVID-19 during campus re-entry.