Question: Would you share some insights from your ongoing COVID-19 research particularly the“Pandemic preparedness of UBD staff and students” online survey? PH: To the best of our knowledge, our online survey (15 Feb–8 March 2020) to understand the pandemicpreparedness among UBD staff and students (from 6 faculties in UBD), is the first COVID-19 studyconducted in UBD. There are 5 sections to the survey: 1) demographic characteristics, 2) knowledge andattitudes towards the COVID-19 outbreak, 3) practices on behaviours during the COVID-19 outbreak, 4)personal belief towards exposure to COVID-19, perception of risk and coping and 5) impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on personal life.  Our findings provided baseline information on the factors that could be utilized by the health professionalsto educate staff and students of UBD, thereby increasing their pandemic preparedness. There was majorincorrect knowledge on COVID-19 infection among respondents regarding the risk of infection in healthypeople, the ill effects as well as prevention and treatment.  The survey findings also showed that most participants consume COVID-19 information via social media.This suggests that social channels may serve as an effective medium for the health authorities to issueofficial information swiftly. On the other hand, misinformation via social channels could also lead to panic,anxiety and fear. Quarantine and handwashing have been emphasized by World Health Organization (WHO) to prevent thetransmission of COVID-19 infection. It was surprising to observe that more than half of our respondentsperceived quarantine and handwashing as ineffective preventive measures against COVID-19 infection.Therefore, staff and students in UBD should be further informed of the effectiveness of quarantine andproper handwashing in the prevention of COVID-19 infection.  Our study shows that 90% of students felt that the current implemented protective measures are effectiveand most students have adhered to the recommended measures consistently. Although 85% of therespondents were aware of the availability of emotional support for those who need help, it is essential foreach faculty to further publicise and promote this service. The survey also found that more than 80% of therespondents generally agreed that the measures have adversely affected their personal choice andfreedom in life, but they also generally agreed that people should be willing to make some personalsacrifices.  Although most participants seem to have reacted positively, there is definitely room for improvement as aminority of the respondents reported lack of resources, information or directives pertaining to COVID-19.Thus, existing guidelines can be further improved and tailored to each faculty. Continuous monitoringshould also be done to ensure adherence to these guidelines. Our study provided impactful informationthat can be addressed by various authorities and policy makers, including health professionals, individualfaculties and the University as a whole to enhance the level of pandemic preparedness among staff andstudents of UBD.  On that note, we are currently conducting a follow-up survey on pandemic responses among UBD staff andstudents that went live on the 18 April 2020. Now that the pandemic is here, how are you responding to it?Within a span of less than 5 months, the current pandemic COVID-19 has affected over 3 million people inover 200 countries and caused over 200,000 deaths. Brunei’s response to the pandemic requires ourcollective efforts and social responsibility to contain its’ spread. With that, the aim of our survey is toexplore the impact and responses among UBD staff and students to this unprecedented outbreak. Theinformation obtained will be used to further improve the protective measures already in place, and addresscommon concerns. UBD staff and students are invited to participate in the follow-up online survey (QRCode below) or via this link: https://ubd.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_em626KbwSthGokd   B E Y O N D | J A N . T O M A R . 2 0 2 0 | I S S U E 2 0 C O V I D - 1 9 U P D A T E S F R O M I H S 3
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