Level of Community Readiness for the Prevention of COVID-19 Pandemic and Associated Factors Among Residents of Awi Zone, Ethiopia: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Novel coronavirus 19 is a contagious disease that affects all most all countries of the world and puts the world in great challenge. Even though, there is a limited testing capacity in Africa the number of cases and deaths is progressively increased. This catastrophic case has a great impact in Africa unless preventive measures are effectively undertaken. In Ethiopia, the number of COVID-19 cases and death are increasing over time. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the level of community readiness for COVID-19 pandemic prevention and its associated factors in residents of Awi Zone, Northwest Ethiopia.

Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 1524 study participants from July 28 to August 27, 2020. Data were collected using structured and pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaires. The collected data were entered into EPI data 4.6 versions and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 24.0. Those variables with P-value<0.25 were entered into multivariable analyses and those variables with P-value < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Finally, the findings of the result were explained using texts, figures, and tables.

Results: A total of 1423 participants have participated in the study. The finding revealed that the prevalence of knowledge, attitude, perception, and practice towards COVID-19 were found to be 76.6%, 68.4%, 68.5%, and 29% respectively. In final model, being a female [AOR=1.388 (95% CI: 1.050-1.834) P= 0.021], married respondents [AOR=3.116 (95% CI: 1.592-6.099) P= 0.001], Muslim religion followers [AOR=2.392 (95% CI:1.503-3.806) P=0.002], and able to read and write [AOR=1.986 (95% CI:1.311-3.006) P=0.002] were some of the variables significantly associated with the level of community readiness towards COVID-19 preventive measures.

Conclusion: The study findings indicate that respondent's level of community readiness for COVID-19 prevention was mainly affected by sex, marital status, religion, and educational status. The Health education programs aimed at mobilizing and improving COVID-19 related level of community readiness especially practice are urgently needed. Awareness creation programs on more targeted groups such as men, unmarried and those with low educational level and religious leaders should be teaching the believers by interacting with faith and science on the means of preventing the pandemic.