Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic Effects on Overseas Pakistanis Particularly Residing in China, Saudi Arabia and United Kingdom.

Aim: This study explored the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic effects on overseas Pakistani's residing in various parts of the world, particularly in China, Saudi Arabia (SA), and the United Kingdom (UK). Methods: This cross-sectional study was completed between November 2020 and April 2021. An online questionnaire was designed and circulated via various social media mediums to overseas Pakistani communities. The obtained data were statistically analyzed through SPSS version 19 for windows. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 542 overseas Pakistani participated in the current study. In total, 157 (29%) were females and 385 (71%) males. There were 174 (32.1%), 142 (26.45%), 117 (21.6%), and 109 (19.85%) participants from the UK, SA, China, and other countries respectively. Some participants, or their family members, 93 (17.2%), got infected with the COVID-19. About one-third, 165 (30.4%), of the respondents were afraid that their company would violate their contracts or lose their jobs or be paid less. The majority, 469 (86.5%), believed that the lockdown is increasing their psychological stress. More than half of the participants, 314 (57.9%), stated that the Pakistani embassy did not facilitate them in their country of stay. About one-third, 194 (35.8%), of the respondents faced visa-related issues. More than one-third of respondents, 221 (40.8%), faced health issues due to lack of physical activities during the lockdown. Males were afraid that their company would violate their contract, lose jobs, or be paid less than females (p < 0.001). Both genders had psychological stress and health issues because of the pandemic. The participants from SA faced more visa-related issues, and they were less satisfied with the efforts of the Pakistani embassy to facilitate them compared to the UK and China participants (p = 0.013). Conclusion: Our data indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Pakistanis living in the UK, SA, China, and other parts of the world. They had health-related issues, visa problems and dissatisfaction with Pakistani embassy facilitations. Pakistanis living abroad require government assistance to resolve their issues.

COVID-19 Pandemic Awareness, Attitudes, and Practices Among the Pakistani General Public.

Background: Outbreak of COVID-19, in many countries, has imposed a lockdown on their residents. The usefulness of extenuative actions is extremely reliant on society's knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward pandemic control. Objective: This study aimed to explore the awareness, attitudes, and practices of the general Pakistani population to COVID-19. Methods: From June 13, 2020, until June 30, 2020, a cross-sectional online KAP survey was conducted among the Pakistani public. For data collection, a validated self-administered questionnaire was used. The survey instrument consisted of six demographic characteristics, 14 items on knowledge, four on attitudes, and six items on practices, modified from a previously published questionnaire on COVID-19. Results: The present study included 2,307 participants, 58.3% males and 41.7% of females. The majority (86.7%) sought information from social media (SM) and television, 95% had good practices, 89.9% had positive attitudes, and two-thirds (67.4%) of the respondents had adequate knowledge. The students and people from younger age groups had more positive attitudes compared with others. Highly educated w with other groups (p < 0.001). In logistic regression analysis, the odds ratio indicated that the private job was negatively associated, and high monthly income was positively associated with adequate knowledge (OR = 0.595). Old age was the predictor of negative attitude, and high school degrees and master's degrees were associated with good practice scores. Conclusion: The Pakistani general population has an overall positive attitude and proactive practices against COVID-19, but their knowledge is inadequate. The most important source of information was SM, followed by television. These are playing a crucial role in educating the Pakistani public.