Perception of Health Care Practitioners of Government Designated COVID-19 Hospitals of Nepal towards the Management of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

INTRODUCTION: Amidst the chaos of COVID-19, health care practitioners are persistently providing services and experiencing many challenges. This study aimed to determine the perception of health care practitioners of government designated COVID-19 hospitals of Nepal towards the management of COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the frontline health care practitioners working in the government designated COVID-19 hospitals in Nepal from 21st June, 2020 to 15th August, 2020. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethical Review Board of the Nepal Health Research Council (Reference number: 347/2020 P). A total of 252 health care practitioners (doctors, nurses, and paramedics) working at the forefront in the emergency ward, general wards, intensive care units, isolation centers, fever clinics, laboratory, quarantine centers, help desks, etc. in the designated hospitals who consented to participate were included in the study. Convenience sampling was used. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 16.0. Point estimate at 95% confidence interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. RESULTS: Only 41 (16.3%) (11.73-20.86 at 95% Confidence Interval) of the health care practitioners were found to have satisfactory perception towards the management of COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal. CONCLUSIONS: The satisfactory perception of the health care practitioners in our study towards the management of COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal is lower as compared to the other studies in Nepal and abroad.

Facemasks Readily Available in Common Stores used by Nepalese, How much Protection is Enough Protection against COVID-19?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization strongly recommend that people wear face masks to cover their mouths and noses while they are out and about in any other public area. There are a lot of masks available on the market, and people get a lot of mixed messages about what is safe. This article explores what kind of facemasks are readily available in Nepali General stores and what are the things to keep in mind before buying a mask. We will also discuss how many times a face mask can be used, proper ways to store them, correct ways to use facemasks, and the rationale behind its use.

Lifestyle, behavior, perception and practices of Nepalese during lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 infection is caused by a new strain of SARS CoV-2 virus, which transmits directly from person-to-person and has become a pandemic. To counteract this, actions related to mass quarantines or stay-at-home orders have been used termed as lockdown. This study aims to study lifestyle, behaviour, perception and practice of people regarding during the lockdown. METHODS: An online survey was conducted with structured questionnaire in Google forms after ethical approval from Nepal Health Research Council (Ref-2631). The attributes of knowledge, attitude and practices were explored using multiple-choice questions and results were statistically analysed using Microsoft excel. RESULTS: Five hundred fifty-five respondents completed the survey with 280 (50.5%) males and 275 (49.5%) female. The knowledge regarding viral pandemic was increased in 496 (89.3%) respondents. 424 (76.4%) people developed stress due to pandemic. Three hundred fifty three (63.6%) were adversely affected by professional works or suffered economic loss in business. More than 42% participants are using their time for study in personal development, online classes etc. Conclusions: The knowledge of viral pandemic as well as personal hygiene habits have improved in majority of people but many also developed stress. They were convinced that lockdown lowered transmission of infection which in turn affected lifestyle behaviour and practices. Practicing social distancing becomes too difficult for the poor in the absence of proper social security system and government support. E-Learning has become more acceptable due to lockdown. Further studies with in-person interviews are warranted.