CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
In December 2019, a new coronavirus emerged in china causing an acute respiratory disease
known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The virus was identified to be a beta
coronavirus related to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-COV2) and thus
was named severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-COV2). According to the
World Health Organization (WHO), viral diseases continue to emerge and represent a serious
issue to public health (WHO, 2019). In the past two decades, several viral epidemics such as
the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV 2) from 2002 to 2003, have
been recorded. Most recently, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS
COV) was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and now the new Coronavirus Disease 2019
(COVID-19) has plagued the world. COVID-19 is an emerging respiratory disease caused by
the highly contagious novel coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV 2) and was first detected in December
2019 in Wuhan, China (Xing et al., 2020; Zhu et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2020).
Epidemics of COVID-19 have been recorded over 200 countries, territories, and areas with
more than 2million confirmed cases and 198, 668 death cases (WHO, 2020). None the less, the
fatality rate of the current pandemic is on the rise (between 2%-4%), relatively lower than the
previous SARS-C0V (2002/2003) and MERS-C0V (2012) outbreaks (Malik et al., 2020).
On the 30th of January 2020, the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee of
the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of
international concern” (PHEIC). The World Health Organization declared the disease a
pandemic on the 11th March 2020 (Alzoubi1 Hamed et al ,2020) and most countries worldwide
have registered cases of COVID-19 including Cameroon. This gave severe impact on global
and national economies irrespective of the level of virus impact on the people of individual
nations. The novel corona virus has no border, no religion, beyond cast and creed (Kumari et
al., 2020). World was never prepared for this kind of pandemic, where humans are in a race of
developing a vaccine. (Verma et al., 2020).
In Cameroon the first case was reported on the 6th of March 2020 in Yaoundé and a month after,
more than 1000 people were infected with SARS-CoV-2 (WHO,2020).With several cases
already confirmed in Cameroon, the government in addition to the WHO guidelines (WHO,
2020),put in place a series of measures to prevent the spread of the infection. Among these
measures are: , closing of international borders, wearing of face masks, regular hand washing,
use of hand sanitizers, creation of an emergency number and measures to prevent social contacts
,the limitation of the number of passengers in public transportation; the closing of all schools;
quarantine and care for infected people or suspected cases; closure of borders and suspension
of flights; issuance of entry visas to Cameroon suspended; gatherings of than 50 people
prohibited; bars, restaurants, and public places closed from 6 pm; urban and inter-urban travel
only undertaken in cases of extreme necessity; overloading in public transport vehicles
prohibited; implementation of virtual meetings; avoiding close contact such as shaking hands
or hugging and covering the mouth when sneezing (PLOS, 2020),
In this study, we assessed the level of the knowledge and awareness of the Buea population
with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as their attitude and practices towards the
pandemic.
1.2 Problem statement
COVID-19 is declared as a “public health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC) , where
most countries worldwide have registered cases of COVID-19 including Cameroon. This gave
severe impact on global and national economies irrespective of the level of virus impact on the
people of individual nations. Despite the support guidelines for clinical management of COVID
19 by the Cameroon national health development plan, the adherence to each of these plans are
extremely low among the population, the non-compliance and the extent of disinterest of certain
groups in relation to these preventive measures are alarming (Roy et al., 2020; Zhong et al.,
2020). In addition, this researcher the opportunity to participate in a Covid-19 campaign
organized by One health in universities in Buea, Biaka University Institute of Buea (BUIB)
inclusive, where this researcher observed that some youths did not respect the ,measures put in
place such as wearing face masks , taking vaccine. This prompted the researcher to undertake
a study aimed at assessing the knowledge on COVID- 1 9, attitude towards it and preventive
measures of COVID-19 among the youths of Molyko .
1.3 Rationale
The study was to assess youth knowledge on COVID 19 with the aim of improving youth
awareness on the preventive measures of COVID 19 and its practices to better manage its
consequences and thus reduce mortality rate in Buea Molyko community.
1.4 Research questions
1 What is the level of knowledge on COVID-19 among youths aged 18-25 years in the Molyko
community?
1 What is the attitudes towards COVID-19 among youths aged 18-25 years in the Molyko
community?
2 What is the practice toward COVID-19 preventive measures among youths aged 18-25
years in the Molyko community?
1.5 Research Objectives
1.5.1. General Objective
To assess knowledge and attitude towards COVID 19 as well as preventive measures among
youths of the Molyko community from 18 – 25years.
1.5.2. Specific Objectives
Specifically, this study sought to;
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1 To find out the level of knowledge on COVID-19 among youths aged 18-25 years in the
Molyko community
2 To determine the attitudes towards COV ID-19 among youths aged 18-25 years in the Molyko
community.
3 To identify the practice toward COVID-19 preventive measures among youths aged 18-25
years in the Molyko community.