![]() In addition, lockdown was imposed on areas where confirmed or suspected infections or deaths were reported. Classes at schools and universities were curtailed, travel between cities was banned, and all incoming and outgoing flights were also suspended. On March 24, a curfew was declared from 6 pm to 6 am, in addition to the closure of shops, markets, parks, and public transport. To stem the spread of the disease, the Syrian government has imposed similar measures to those adopted by other countries. Although private hospitals provide relatively better healthcare services compared to public hospitals, they suffered from similar shortages and problems as government hospitals did. ![]() The total number of intensive care unit (ICU) beds was approximately 650 in hospitals all over Syria (excluding the city of Idlib). In 2019, the number of beds was disproportionally distributed between cities and among private and government hospitals with an average number of population of 699 per bed. In 2018, the Syrian government spent less than 1% of its total expenditure on health. COVID-19 is expected to be of a great challenge to the Syrian war-torn health system because of its fragile health system aggravated by the lack of sufficient equipment and the loss of around 70% health workers. Moreover, many cases were probably not reported because tests were available only to people who showed clear symptoms or had contact with confirmed cases or deaths. Syrian health authorities used purchased and gift kits to conduct approximately one hundred tests daily in Damascus that reached around 2.700 tests as of May 8. ![]() There were some concerns on the accurateness of these figures, partially due to limited testing capacity of COVID-19 owing to limited resources and sanctions imposed on Syria. The disease has spread quickly, and by July 03, 2020, there were 328 laboratory-confirmed cases and 10 deaths as reported by the Syrian Ministry of Health. The first COVID-19 laboratory-confirmed case was reported on 22 March, with the first fatality reported a week later. Despite its strong foothold in the region, particularly in Lebanon, Jordan, and Iran, the spread of COVID-19 in Syria was late. Since the discovery of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (abbreviated as COVID-19) in China in December 2019, the disease has spread quickly across the globe. Efforts should be directed towards raising the awareness of the disease to improve their practices in the current COVID-19 pandemic, as well as for future epidemics. The findings of this study suggest that the Syrian residents demonstrate modest knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 at the time of its global outbreak. Results from multiple linear regression indicated that lower knowledge scores were significantly associated with lower education level ( P < 0.05), whereas poor preventive practices were common among male, young and unemployed participants with significance levels of P < 0.01, P = .000, P < 0.01, respectively. Attitude scores were significantly different between males and females ( P < 0.05), whereas practice scores varied significantly across gender ( P < 0.05), age groups ( P = 0.01), education levels ( P = 0.015), occupations ( P < 0.05), and according to knowledge score ( P = 0.000). Knowledge scores significantly differed across age groups ( P < 0.05), education levels ( P = 0.001), and occupations ( P < 0.05). Results showed that overall knowledge score towards the disease was about 60% (mean score 3.54 ± 1.20 range 0–6). Among the participants 253 were students, 316 were employed, 75 work as freelancers, and 62 were unemployed. There were 642 who have a university degree and 61 who have high school degree. This study included 405 participants aged between 16 and 29, 204 aged between 30 and 49, and 97 aged above 60 years. ResultsĪ total of 706 participants (female, 444 male, 262) were enrolled. The study is conducted during the global outbreak of COVID-19. Participants’ demographic characteristics are recorded and analyzed. It contains questions on knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) with respect to COVID-19. MethodĪ cross sectional web-based survey was conducted on the Syrian residents of 16 years and above. This study aims to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 among Syrians in a post-conflict context. Effective COVID-19 pandemic management requires adequate understanding of factors that influence behavioral changes.
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