فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 was declared as pandemic by the WHO in March 2020. Social distancingand hand hygiene is advised during the pandemic to contain the spread of the virus. Rapid sharingof scientific information in an extraordinary way is the characteristic of the COVID-19 pandemic.There may be gap between information provided and received. Perception and practices in thecommunity regarding handling materials need to be pointed out. the aim of this study was to assessthe perception about myths and facts and change in the practices before and during the COVID-19pandemic among the faculties.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted during May–June 2020among the faculties of Science and Technology. By multistage sampling technique, five districts fromMaharashtra state and then one institution from each district was selected. A questionnaire was sharedby Internet to institutional faculties. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square test) is applied.RESULTS: Out of 276 faculties, 248 had responded. Most of the faculties were aware about basicpreventive measures for COVID-19 infection. However, 25% of the faculties were unaware aboutthe safe physical distance. Eating garlic and pepper protect against COVID-19 as per 63 (25.3%)and 59 (23.9%) faculties, respectively, was effective, whereas 56.8% of participants did not believeso. 93 (37.5%) respondents believed that respiratory function ultimately indicates the presenceor absence of disease. About 95% of participants adopted new hygienic practices during thepandemic (P < 0.0001).CONCLUSION: COVID-19 can spread rapidly if the basic preventive measures are ignored by thesmall proportion of unaware people Hence, awareness needs to be improved. People have adaptedto new hygienic practices for handling the material during the pandemic.