{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,27]],"date-time":"2026-01-27T14:51:14Z","timestamp":1769525474695,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":19,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,6]],"date-time":"2021-08-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1628208000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"SNNPR Health Bureau"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>COVID-19 is highly infectious viral disease that can lead to main clinical symptoms like fever, dry cough, fatigue, myalgia, and dyspnea. Since there is no drug to cure the disease, focusing on improving community awareness related to prevention methods is crucial. But there was no regional level study addressing the reach of information, community knowledge and attitude related to COVID-19 and its prevention, and this study was done to inform and assist communication related to the disease responses during early introduction of the disease to the setting.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Community based cross sectional study was conducted in selected ten towns of SNNPR, Ethiopia. Multi-stage sampling was used to select 1239 participants. Semi-structured questionnaire was designed, pre-tested and uploaded to SurveyCTO data collection system with security patterns. Knowledge was assessed considering awareness about signs and symptoms, confirmatory test (laboratory test), what to do if there is a suspect, availability of drug to cure the disease, mechanisms of transmission, prevention methods and most at risk groups. Attitude was assessed using 11 statements including seriousness of disease, being at risk, possibility of prevention, and benefits of staying at health facilities. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were performed to manage data using SPSS version 25.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Almost all respondents (99.8%) heard about the disease. The mean score of knowledge was 52.3% (SD = 18.9) while the mean score attitude was 80.8% (SD = 6.48). Educational status, housing condition and marital status were associated with having good knowledge while occupation, housing condition, age and overall knowledge were associated with having positive attitude.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Even though almost all respondents had heard about the COVID-19, knowledge and attitude related to COVID-19 and its prevention were low. Awareness creation should be intensified using different local languages to improve community awareness, overcome misconceptions and minimize consequences of the disease.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0255884","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,6]],"date-time":"2021-08-06T17:29:28Z","timestamp":1628270968000},"page":"e0255884","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["Knowledge and attitude towards COVID-19 and its prevention in selected ten towns of SNNP Region, Ethiopia: Cross-sectional survey"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0026-9611","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Misganu","family":"Endriyas","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aknaw","family":"Kawza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Abraham","family":"Alano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mamush","family":"Hussen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Emebet","family":"Mekonnen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Teka","family":"Samuel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mekonnen","family":"Shiferaw","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sinafikish","family":"Ayele","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Temesgen","family":"Kelaye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tebeje","family":"Misganaw","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Endashaw","family":"Shibru","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0255884.ref001","unstructured":"WHO. 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among Gondar town residents, Northwest Ethiopia","volume":"48","author":"HS Mekonnen","year":"2020","journal-title":"Tropical Medicine and Health"},{"key":"pone.0255884.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2020.00217","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":"Front Public Health"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0255884.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6","DOI":"10.3126\/ajms.v11i3.28485","article-title":"Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Nepalese Residents: A quick online cross-sectional survey","volume":"11","author":"RP Tripti","year":"2020","journal-title":"Asian Journal of Medical 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study","volume":"16","author":"A Yoseph","year":"2021","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0255884.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0244925","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0244925","article-title":"Knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 among Palestinians during the COVID-19 outbreak: A cross-sectional survey","volume":"16","author":"N Qutob","year":"2021","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0255884.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0238415","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0238415","article-title":"Knowledge and attitude towards COVID-19 and associated factors among health care providers in Northwest Ethiopia","volume":"15","author":"BA Kassie","year":"2020","journal-title":"PLoS One"}],"container-title":["PLOS 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