Preparedness and Preventive Behaviors is the central topic of this scientific publication.
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province, and has since spread globally, especially to Europe and North America, resulting in the ongoing 2019–20 global coronavirus pandemic disaster. While the majority of cases result in mild symptoms, some progress to viral pneumonia and multi-organ failure and death. As of 19 April 2020, more than 2.35 million cases have been reported across 185 countries and territories, resulting in more than 162,000 deaths. Risk to communities with ongoing sustained widespread disease transmission depends on characteristics of the virus, including how well it spreads between people; the severity of resulting illness; and the medical or other measures available to control the impact of the virus (for example, vaccines or medications that can treat the illness) and the relative success of these. In the absence of vaccine or treatment medications, non-pharmaceutical interventions become the most important response strategy based on community interventions such as person-to-person distancing, mask-wearing, isolation and good personal hygiene (hand-washing) — all of which have been demonstrated can reduce the impact of this seemingly unstoppable globally spreading natural disaster. This paper presents the results of quantitative research regarding the level of citizen preparedness for disasters caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Serbia. The survey was conducted using a questionnaire that was given and then collected online among 975 respondents during disaster in March-April 2020. The questionnaire explored citizens’ basic socio-economic and demographic characteristics, their knowledge, preparedness, risk perception and preventive measures taking individually and as a community to prevent the deadly and widespread transmission of Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 in the Republic of Serbia. Based on findings that there are major differences in the public’s perception of risks presented by communicable disease threats such as presented by COVID-19, emergency management agencies should use these differences to develop focused strategies to enhance community and national preparedness through the promotion of behavioral change and the improvement of risk management decision-making regarding pandemic disasters.
Conclusions
The risk to communities with continued widespread transmission depends on the characteristics of the virus, including how well it spreads among people; the severity of resulting illness; and the medical or other measures available to control the impact of the virus (for example, vaccines or drugs that can treat the illness) and the relative success of these. In the absence of vaccines or medications, non-pharmaceutical interventions become the most important response strategy based on citizen preparedness measures such as person-to-person distancing, mask-wearing, isolation and good personal hygiene (hand-washing)—all of which have been demonstrated to reduce the impact of this seemingly unstoppable globally spreading natural disaster. The possibility that the COVID-19 virus could behave differently from previous coronavirus outbreaks in 2003 and 2015 requires new research studies, assessments, and plans to address a novel virus with high transmission in the community and severe morbidity and mortality.
The study described in this paper deals with the critical initial steps in the process of preparing for a pandemic disease disaster, i.e., determining the general knowledge of citizens in Serbia regarding their level of knowledge regarding the general threat that novel coronavirus 2019 poses to both themselves and the wider community, risk perception, risk management and the recommended preventive approach. The results of this study demonstrated the importance of knowledge, preparedness, risk perception and preventive measures to effectively respond to a COVID-19 outbreak. We tested the central hypothesis that gender, educational level and age are predictive variables for stronger citizen preparedness for a pandemic disaster.
Results of our survey indicate that there are major differences in the Serbian public’s perception of risks presented by pandemic Novel Coronavirus 2019 particularly their general knowledge vis-à-vis the general threat that novel coronavirus 2019 presents to both themselves and the community at large, risk perception, risk management and recommended preventive measures to take to decrease the possibility of becoming ill or dying from COVID-19. The study described in this paper addresses critical initial steps in the process of local and national preparation for a pandemic disease disaster. We encourage emergency management agencies in Serbia to use the differences in public perception of risks identified in our study to develop enhanced anti-pandemic disease preparedness measures by promotion of behavioural changes that go hand in hand with the of adoption of improved risk management decision-making procedures.
All cities and towns in Serbia need to have disaster plans that are tailored to specific scenarios and locations, not preconceived generalized plans. Airport plane crashes, stadium catastrophes, and remote mass transit accidents are all very different from those caused by deadly infectious microorganisms such as COVID-19 and require different responses. Communications need to be standardized and supported. Triage needs to be thought through more clearly. Future research would benefit from a more epidemiological approach (e.g., case-control and cohort studies) to identify risk factors for poor community responses to communicable disease disasters such as epidemics, “before and after” studies looking at a population in Serbia that has been affected by infectious disease disasters such as coronavirus pandemics, and studies using currently validated modelling and simulation methods.
How to cite
Reference – Cvetković, V., Nikolić, N., Nenadić, R. U., Ocal, A., & Zečević, M. (2020). Preparedness and Preventive Behaviors for a Pandemic Disaster Caused by COVID-19 in Serbia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(11), 4124.
