A Study to Assess the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdown on Rural Population of District Ghaziabad
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Abstract
Background: COVID-19 brought a huge nation like India to a halt. The country wide lockdown was one of the initial steps taken by the government of India to curb the spread of this disease. Lockdown further induced economic losses to the rural population and severely affected their livelihoods. This study was thus, undertaken to study the awareness levels among the agrarian population of District Ghaziabad. To assess how they withstood various challenges during the pandemic and identify the best strategies to combat these unforeseen challenges.
Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the agrarian population of District Ghaziabad.
Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted among the rural residents of district Ghaziabad. .Two hundred households were selected and the adult present at the time of survey was interviewed using a pre-designed and semi-structured questionnaire through door to door visits. Approval from the Institutional ethical committee was taken prior to the study. Data was compiled and analyzed in MS Excel.
Results: About 40% of the Heads of the households surveyed were farmers & the remaining were pursuing other professions. It was observed that 93.5% of them were aware that COVID-19 is a communicable disease. Around 83% felt that COVID19 is a dangerous disease. Majority 85.5% of the study participants used soap and water for washing hands. More than half of the respondents, 56.5% of the respondents mentioned that they had accessibility to health facility when in need during the period.
Conclusion: About 19%, 10% & 9.5% of the rural households did not get adequate groceries, water & electricity supply respectively during the lockdowns due to COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, they had to bear a major brunt of the lockdown worsening of the already poor socio-economic conditions. The lockdown led to an unprecedented tragedy which still needs to be understood well so that the Government can direct the the outreach of the relief schemes and other strategies making their working effective.
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References
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