Background

At the end of August 2020, a surge in the number of cases in the Jazan region has been observed. The number of reported cases by 19th of August in the Jazan region was more than 300, which exceeded the number of reported cases in larger regions such as Riyadh, and Makkah. This study aims to measure compliance by the public with COVID-19 preventive measures.

Methods

This study was a cross-sectional, field-based observational assessment of compliance by individuals in public settings with COVID-19 preventive measures in the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia. The assessment was performed in the last week of July 2020. The assessment was based on observing the actual compliance of individuals and different establishments in the Jazan region with COVID-19 preventive measures. To perform the field observations, a standardised check-list was adopted from COVID-19 preventive measures in the community, which was developed by the Saudi Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC).

Results

A total of 1096 individuals were observed in 69 different locations in the Jazan region. Compliance by the observed individuals was variable depending on the age group, the setting and the recommended preventive practice. The findings indicate very low compliance of specific precautionary measures within public parks in comparison to other measured settings. Proportions of individuals not compliant with mask-wearing instructions varied according to settings and age group from 5% in malls and shopping areas to nearly 83% in public parks. Additionally, Proportions of children not compliant with mask-wearing instructions was higher in comparison to adults in all observed settings.

Conclusions

The findings of this study identified variability in the levels of compliance with specific preventive measures against COVID-19. Further assessment is needed to explore factors associated with the limited observed compliance, in particular with regard to limited compliance to precautionary measures applied in specific settings and compliance of children to mask-wearing instructions.

中文翻译：

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沙特阿拉伯南部公众对 COVID19 预防措施遵守情况的社区观察评估

背景

到 2020 年 8 月末，观察到吉赞地区的病例数量激增。截至 8 月 19 日，吉赞地区报告的病例数已超过 300 例，超过了利雅得和麦加等较大地区的报告病例数。本研究旨在衡量公众对 COVID-19 预防措施的遵守情况。

方法

这项研究是对沙特阿拉伯吉赞地区公共环境中个人对 COVID-19 预防措施的遵守情况进行的基于实地的横断面观察评估。评估是在 2020 年 7 月的最后一周进行的。评估是基于观察吉赞地区个人和不同机构对 COVID-19 预防措施的实际遵守情况。为了进行实地观察，我们采用了由沙特疾病预防和控制中心 (CDC) 制定的社区 COVID-19 预防措施的标准化清单。

结果

在吉赞地区的 69 个不同地点共观察到 1096 人。观察个体的依从性因年龄组、环境和推荐的预防措施而异。调查结果表明，与其他测量环境相比，公园内特定预防措施的合规性非常低。不遵守戴口罩说明的个人比例因环境和年龄组而异，从商场和购物区的 5% 到公园的近 83%。此外，在所有观察到的环境中，与成年人相比，不遵守戴口罩说明的儿童比例更高。

结论

本研究的结果确定了针对 COVID-19 的特定预防措施的依从性水平存在差异。需要进一步评估以探索与观察到的依从性有限相关的因素，特别是关于对特定环境中应用的预防措施的有限依从性以及儿童对戴口罩说明的依从性。