ASSESSMENT OF THE LEVELS OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC PROTOCOL COMPLIANCE IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KANO

ASSESSMENT OF THE LEVELS OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC PROTOCOL COMPLIANCE IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KANO

​​​​​​​BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Coronavirus (Covid-19) is an infectious illness that causes respiratory infections ranging from a common cold to severe respiratory difficulties. It began in December 2019 at the Hunan seafood market in Wuhan, China, where live bats, snakes, raccoon dogs, and other wild creatures were sold (Brosseau, & Sietsema, 2020), and the World Health Organization designated it a pandemic on March 11, 2020 (World Health Organization, 2020). The COVID19 outbreak posed a global burden as well as a transnational health hazard. By June 15, 2020, the epidemic had spread to over 200 countries, infecting over seven million people and generating a global health crisis that would cause fundamental societal upheavals. The virus, on the other hand, is contagious through contact with affected people, objects, and surfaces (World Health Organization, 2020).

The ideal goal in effectively dealing with a pandemic is to completely stop the spread and eliminate or eradicate the disease (Bourne, 2020). As of the 3rd June 2021, 19 COVID vaccines are in the World Health Organisation Emergency Use List evaluation process, with the United Kingdom as the first country to approve and begin mass vaccination on the 8th December 2020 (World Health Organisation, 2021). According to the World Health Organization, (2021), Ghana and Coˆte d’Ivoire were the first African countries to begin COVID-19 vaccinations on the 1st March 2021. However, during the first 11 months of the pandemic, there were no commercially available vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for COVID-19 and The World Health Organisation advised the best way to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 was by avoiding exposure to the virus (World Health Organization, 2020). In response to the pandemic, almost all countries have implemented public health and social measures. These measures aim to slow the transmission of COVID-19. Slowing the spread of a pandemic reduces the number of active cases at a given time, known as ‘flattening the pandemic curve”. This allows the health system (doctors, nurses, hospitals) time to prepare and respond without being overwhelmed (World Health Organization, 2020).

Adherence to public health and social mitigative measures are therefore key to flattening of the pandemic curve. Studies investigating compliance of public health and social measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have so far shown a spectrum of compliance to such measures (The Irish Times, 2020). According to Johns Hopkins University (2020), reasons for compliance, or lack thereof, to prevention measures have included attitudes to the preven- tion measures, perceived risk of the virus to the individual, belief in the existence of the virus, law enforcement and / or penalties imposed due to non-compliance, availability and ease of access to protective measures (e.g., face masks, running water and soap, hand sanitiser), and availability and accessibility of alternative work and travel arrangements.

Examples of measures include:

1. Personal protective measures–e.g., wearing of masks, washing or sanitising of hands frequently, practicing respiratory etiquette
2. Social measures–e.g., staying and working at home, staying at least one meter away from another person not from your household, and avoiding crowded settings (e.g., public trans- port, bars, and schools)
3. Travel measures–e.g., limiting travel between cities, regions, and nations.

These limitations–especially in relation to limited travel, interactions, and reduced access to work–have led to a global emergency that is not only a health crisis but also an economic and social crisis (Johns Hopkins University, 2020). Public health and social measures have seen numerous workers having either lost their jobs or working on reduced schedules. In low and middle-income countries, few nations have the resources and infrastructure to provide welfare relief to citizens to miti- gate for the loss of income. In Nigeria, 30% of the population live under $1.90 a day (Hampton & Graham-Rowe 2020), and the country is braced for a 25% reduction in income through the Southern African Customs Union in 2022 leading to both short- and medium-term economic effects of the pandemic. Lack of government support and little or no relief systems in place, employees may need to leave home and travel by public transport to work. In western Africa, including Nigeria, public transport systems usually comprise of overcrowded licensed mini- buses. In Nigeria, such transport is used by up to 90% of the population for daily travel, including across borders (Davis, 2020). Overcrowded public transport have been associated with the transmission and acquisition of airborne diseases including tuberculosis and influenza. For this reason, many countries, including Nigeria, shut down, staggered timings or decreased occupancy on public transport systems (Davis, 2020).

To reduce the spread of the virus, many governments around the world advised the public to stay at home. However, epidemic models have shown airborne infectious diseases are more easily spread within households, and contact density is the main driver in epidemic spread (Davis, 2020).

​​​​​​​STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The entire globe ground to a halt when the covid-19 epidemic broke out. According to the World Health Organization, (2020), this pandemic has had an impact not only on human health but also on the operational health of enterprises and organizations, including the education sector. In the year 2020, a unique virus (COVID-19) pandemic occurred in a way that the world had never seen before. The virus's human-to-human transmission rates are not only surprising and concerning, but the respiratory problems and unwavering deaths it has caused have sparked global worry. To combat the spread of this Virus among the population, most governments around the world implemented social separation and lockdown measures, among other preventive measures (Alfonso, 2020).

In Nigeria, the government through the NCDC placed some pandemic protocol compliance measures which the citizens are expected to adhere to. The compliance level was high initially but overtime, the compliance levevl dropped drastically.

In Nigerian secondary schools, the health ministry effected some measures like using of nosemasks, regularly washing of hands, social distancing etc. However, most schools do not adhere to these measures and some only obey when there is inspection by the Education ministry (Anyanwu, 2021).

It is against this backdrop that this study seeks to assess the levels of covid-19 pandemic protocol compliance in senior secondary schools in kano.

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