Knowledge and Beliefs towards Universal Safety Precautions to flatten the curve during Novel Coronavirus Disease (nCOVID-19) Pandemic among general Public in India: Explorations from a National Perspective

Sai Krishna Gudi; Krishna Undela; Rajesh Venkataraman; Uday Venkat Mateti; Manik Chhabra; Sanath Nyamagoud; Komal Krishna Tiwari

Novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), formally named as the novel Coronavirus-2019 (nCoV-2019) by the World Health Organization (WHO) after identifying a cluster of pneumonia cases during late December 2019 in the province of Hubei, China [1] . However, coronavirus (CoV) is not the first-ever occurrence as it was initially discovered in the 1960s and belongs to a family coronaviridae [2] . Since then, several types of CoV were identified amongst which Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoV (SARS-CoV) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-CoV (MERS-CoV) are of importance [3] . As of 27 March 2020, a total of 509,164 confirmed cases and 23,335 deaths of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have been reported globally, effecting 151 countries, where around half of those reported cases and deaths are solely attributed to China [4] . However, within a short span of time, the cumulative proportion of cases and deaths outside China has been outstripped by the total number of cases and deaths in China, which has raised significant concern among the public around the globe. As a result, considering the rapid disease transmission of COVID-19 within and across the countries, on 11 March 2020, WHO has declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a global pandemic [5] .