{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T00:06:28Z","timestamp":1786320388644,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,20]],"date-time":"2021-04-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1618876800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>SARS-CoV-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19) is pandemic and currently becomes a serious cause of death worldwide. It is caused by a SARS-CoV-2 belonging to a family known as corona virus. The aim of this study is to assess the community knowledge, attitude and practice strategy implementation on SARS-CoV-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19). A cross-sectional survey study was done from July to October, 2020 in Woldia town, Northeast Ethiopia. Interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 404 respondents. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square test with a 95% confidence interval to know the association of socio-demographic characteristics with the knowledge, attitude and practices towards COVID-19. From a total of 404 responses collected (64.1%, n = 259\/404), (50.7%, n = 205\/404) and (39.6%, n = 160\/404) of the respondents were between ages 18\u201339 years, males and were diploma and above, respectively. The majority of the respondents had good knowledge about the transmission mode and symptoms of COVID-19 and they obtained information mainly through mass media. The knowledge of the respondents about the transmission mode of COVID-I9 through coughing and sneezing, direct contact with infected person and touching contaminated materials was statistically associated with education and occupation (p &lt;0.001). Among the total respondents (53.7%, n = 217\/404) had a negative attitude that COVID-19 pandemic will not be controlled. The attitude of the respondents towards successfully controlling of COVID-I9 was statistically associated in terms of age, marital status, education and occupation (p &lt; 0.001). Most of the respondents (63.1%, n = 255\/404), (58.9%, n = 238\/404), (66.8%, n = 270\/404) and (63.9%, n = 258\/404) did not wash hands with soap, avoidance of touching the nose and mouth, practicing social distancing and wearing of face masks in public or crowded places, respectively. The practices of the respondents towards COVID-19 were statistically associated with sex, marital status, education and occupation (p &lt; 0.01). COVID-19 is currently the cause of death and it has a great impact on the economy, politics and social interactions in the study area. The government should strength the health system by increasing surveillance activities in detecting cases. Our findings suggest that the community should practice the WHO and EMoH recommendations to minimize the spread of the virus.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0250465","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,20]],"date-time":"2021-04-20T22:16:56Z","timestamp":1618957016000},"page":"e0250465","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["Community knowledge, attitude and practices to SARS-CoV-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19): A cross-sectional study in Woldia town, Northeast Ethiopia"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4875-726X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Kindu Alem","family":"Molla","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0300-5424","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Silamlak Birhanu","family":"Abegaz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0250465.ref001","article-title":"Indian communitys knowledge, attitude & practice towards COVID-19","author":"BS Tomar","year":"2020","journal-title":"MedRxiv"},{"issue":"15","key":"pone.0250465.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"748","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/ciaa243","article-title":"Clinical features and short-term outcomes of 102 patients with coronavirus disease 2019 in Wuhan, China","volume":"71","author":"J Cao","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clinical Infectious Diseases"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0250465.ref003","article-title":"COVID-19 pandemic: knowledge and perceptions of the public and healthcare professionals","volume":"12","author":"PA Parikh","year":"2020","journal-title":"Cureus"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0250465.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-020-19478-2","article-title":"Collider bias undermines our understanding of COVID-19 disease risk and severity","volume":"11","author":"GJ Griffith","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nature communications"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0250465.ref005","first-page":"8","article-title":"Assessing the level of awareness and knowledge of COVID 19 pandemic among syrians","volume":"12","author":"L Labban","year":"2020","journal-title":"Arch Med"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0250465.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100","DOI":"10.7326\/M20-1239","article-title":"Awareness, attitudes, and actions related to COVID-19 among adults with chronic conditions at the onset of the US outbreak: a cross-sectional survey","volume":"173","author":"MS Wolf","year":"2020","journal-title":"Annals of internal medicine"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0250465.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"905","DOI":"10.4209\/aaqr.2020.04.0154","article-title":"COVID-19: An aerosol\u2019s point of view from expiration to transmission to viral-mechanism","volume":"20","author":"T-C Hsiao","year":"2020","journal-title":"Aerosol and Air Quality Research"},{"key":"pone.0250465.ref008","first-page":"1","article-title":"Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19: an epidemiological survey in North-Central Nigeria","author":"RC Reuben","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of community health"},{"key":"pone.0250465.ref009","first-page":"E022","article-title":"Epidemic trend of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in mainland China","volume":"54","author":"Z Zhu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Zhonghua yu Fang yi xue za zhi [Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine]"},{"key":"pone.0250465.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1949","DOI":"10.2147\/IDR.S258736","article-title":"Knowledge, attitude and practice towards COVID-19 among chronic disease patients at Addis Zemen Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia","volume":"13","author":"Y Akalu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Infection and drug resistance"},{"key":"pone.0250465.ref011","article-title":"Prevalence of comorbidities in the novel Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"10","author":"J Yang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Infect Dis"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0250465.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"271","DOI":"10.1620\/tjem.250.271","article-title":"The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic","volume":"250","author":"S Baloch","year":"2020","journal-title":"The Tohoku journal of experimental medicine"},{"key":"pone.0250465.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2020.00154","article-title":"COVID-19 and Bangladesh: Challenges and how to address them","volume":"8","author":"S Anwar","year":"2020","journal-title":"Frontiers in public health"},{"key":"pone.0250465.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104773","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ssci.2020.104773","article-title":"Initial impacts of global risk mitigation measures taken during the combatting of the COVID-19 pandemic","volume":"128","author":"YB de Bruin","year":"2020","journal-title":"Safety science"},{"key":"pone.0250465.ref015","article-title":"Knowledge, attitude and practice toward COVID-19 among the public in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study","volume":"8","author":"MK Al-Hanawi","year":"2020","journal-title":"Frontiers in Public Health"},{"key":"pone.0250465.ref016","article-title":"COVID-19 prevention measures in Ethiopia: Current realities and prospects","volume":"141","author":"K Baye","year":"2020","journal-title":"Intl Food Policy Res Inst"},{"key":"pone.0250465.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.m1066","volume-title":"Covid-19 and community mitigation strategies in a pandemic","author":"SH Ebrahim","year":"2020"},{"key":"pone.0250465.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S73","DOI":"10.12669\/pjms.36.COVID19-S4.2638","article-title":"Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic and economic impact","volume":"36","author":"T Ahmad","year":"2020","journal-title":"Pakistan journal of medical sciences"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0250465.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0233668","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0233668","article-title":"Public knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19: A cross-sectional study in Malaysia","volume":"15","author":"AA Azlan","year":"2020","journal-title":"PloS one"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0250465.ref020","first-page":"002","article-title":"Knowledge, Attitudes and Fears of HealthCare Workers towards the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic in South-South, Nigeria","author":"M Ogolodom","year":"2020","journal-title":"Heal Sci J"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0250465.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0247351","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0247351","article-title":"Correction: Knowledge, attitude, and perceptions towards the 2019 Coronavirus Pandemic: A bi-national survey in Africa","volume":"16","author":"H Elnadi","year":"2021","journal-title":"PloS one"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0250465.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"881","DOI":"10.1007\/s10900-020-00827-7","article-title":"Knowledge, perceptions, and attitude of Egyptians towards the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19)","volume":"45","author":"AS Abdelhafiz","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Community Health"},{"key":"pone.0250465.ref023","author":"K Austrian","year":"2020","journal-title":"Preprint\u2014COVID-19 related knowledge, attitudes, practices and needs of households in informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya"},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0250465.ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1745","DOI":"10.7150\/ijbs.45221","article-title":"Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: a quick online cross-sectional survey","volume":"16","author":"B-L Zhong","year":"2020","journal-title":"International journal of biological sciences"},{"key":"pone.0250465.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2020.00181","article-title":": Coronavirus disease-2019: knowledge, attitude, and practices of health care workers at Makerere University Teaching Hospitals, Uganda","volume":"8","author":"R Olum","year":"2020","journal-title":"Frontiers in public health"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0250465.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1158","DOI":"10.1007\/s10900-020-00916-7","article-title":"Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Ecuadorians during the outbreak: an online cross-sectional survey","volume":"45","author":"BR Bates","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Community Health"},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0250465.ref027","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3347","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17103347","article-title":"View of Pakistani residents toward coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during a rapid outbreak: a rapid online survey","volume":"17","author":"K Hayat","year":"2020","journal-title":"International journal of environmental research and public health"},{"key":"pone.0250465.ref028","article-title":"Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Knowledge, attitudes, practices (KAP) and misconceptions in the general population of Katsina State, Nigeria","author":"MB Isah","year":"2020","journal-title":"MedRxiv"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0250465.ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.20473\/jaki.v8i2.2020.4-14","article-title":"Community knowledge, attitudes, and behavior towards social distancing policy as prevention transmission of COVID-19 in indonesia","volume":"8","author":"B Yanti","year":"2020","journal-title":"Jurnal Administrasi Kesehatan Indonesia"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0250465","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,20]],"date-time":"2021-04-20T22:17:20Z","timestamp":1618957040000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0250465"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Wen-Jun","family":"Tu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,20]]},"references-count":29,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,20]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0250465","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,20]]}}}