Evaluation of knowledge, impacts and government intervention strategies during the COVID – 19 pandemic in Nigeria

The SARS-CoV-2 is a novel strain of coronavirus which is ravaging many countries, and this has become a global public health concern. With the increasing number of COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths in Nigeria, the pandemic has led to massive public reactions. This data attempted to evaluate the knowledge, impacts, and government intervention during the pandemic. An online survey was conducted using a questionnaire shared via social media using a Snowball sampling technique. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and analysis of variance (ANOVA). A total of 387 responses was received. Results show that a significant number of respondents had adequate knowledge about COVID-19 modes of transmission, symptoms, and preventive measures. Respondents maintain personal hygiene as 67% wash their hands with soap. The pandemic has caused worry (65%), anxiety (42%), panic (35%), and depression (16%) among respondents, even as government intervention is seen as inadequate by 70%. There is a need for mental health support and increased information campaigns about COVID-19.


Specifications
Global public health Specific subject area Knowledge, impacts and intervention strategies towards COVID-19 Type of data Primary data collected via online survey How data were acquired Primary data collected via online survey (Google form) and statistically analysed using SPSS. Supplementary survey questionnaire provided. Data format The raw data was collected as responses in Google spreadsheets, exported to SPSS for analysis after filtering to remove uncompleted responses. Parameters for data collection A total of 387 Nigerians (aged from16 years to 61 years) were interviewed on their perception of the COVID-19 pandemic. Description of data collection An online survey was conducted using a questionnaire shared via social media using a Snowball sampling technique. Data source location The participants were residents in different parts of Nigeria however, the majority of about 250 respondents were residents in Lagos which is the epicenter of COVID-19 in Nigeria, 33 respondents were residents in Ogun state and 13 respondents were residents in the Federal Capital Territory. The remaining 91 respondents were from 23 states in the middle belt, northern, southwest, and south-eastern parts of Nigeria. Value of the Data • With the increasing number of COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths in Nigeria, the pandemic has led to massive public reactions. This data attempted to evaluate the knowledge, impacts, and government intervention during the pandemic. • This data could be used by relevant authorities to reinforce their strategies in mental health support to buffer against COVID-19 pandemic-related stress. • The data can be analysed and compared with existing or new datasets.
• The dataset will be useful to improve government intervention strategies • The data would also be useful for mathematical modeling, particularly in the inclusion of individual responses-besides the large uncertainties associated with the transmission of a novel, emerging pathogen.

Part A: socio-demographic information of respondents
The data was conducted among 387 respondents, from March 27th -April 7th, 2020. The participants were residents in different parts of Nigeria however, the majority of respondents (250) were from Lagos which is the epicenter of COVID-19 in Nigeria, 33 respondents were residents in Ogun state and 13 respondents were residents in the Federal Capital Territory. The remaining 91 respondents were from 23 states in the middle belt, northern, southwest, and southeastern parts of Nigeria ( Table 1 ).

Part B: level of awareness about COVID-19 pandemic
All the respondents have heard about the COVID-19 pandemic. As shown in Table 2 , 85% of the responders know about the mode of transmission, symptoms, and preventive measure of the disease; 55% of the respondents are aware of the causative agent of COVID-19. Many of the respondents (74%) heard about COVID-19, through the mass media and over a month ago (as at the time of the survey). The perceived sadness and fear for COVID-19 were high among the respondents as 70% stated that they are afraid of hearing the news about the virus. A Where n = number of respondents, f = frequency in percentages.
significant number of participants (92%) acknowledged that their communities are aware of COVID-19 through mass media and faith-based organizations. Most participants (94%) indicated that social distancing can help prevent the spread of the virus.

Part C: respiratory and personal hygiene
Data in Table 3 shows there is a perceived capability to avoid COVID-19 among the subjects. Substantial proportions (52%) of respondents reported that they do cover their mouth with a tissue or handkerchief/elbow when sneezing or coughing as always recommended, 33% of respondents indicated most of the time,13% indicated occasionally and 2% do not cover their mouth. There is a similar attitude of the respondents toward the use of alcohol-based hand rub or soap hand-wash when washing their hands, as 67% wash their hands with soap. Only 30% of the respondents do not wear any of the personal protective equipment (PPE) as shown in the Table. About 70% either wear PPE always, most of the time according to risk assessment or occasionally. Four percent of the participants reported having had close contact (within 1 meter) with a suspected or confirmed victim of COVID-19 while 88% of them believed they had not as shown in Table 3 . Three-quarters of the respondents reported that they sanitize/wash their hands after using an automated teller machine (ATM/POS); while those that sanitize/wash their hands after touching Nigerian currency were 59%. Majority of the respondents (over 90%) acknowledged that staying at home will help reduce the spread of COVID −19. Little above half of the respondents choose social distancing, movement restriction and use of face mask as precautionary measures they take against COVID-19 infection as shown in Table 3 .

Part D: impacts of COVID-19
About 68% of the respondents pointed out that their personal or family's lifestyle is affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 while one-quarter said that it does not affect them as shown in Where N = total number of respondents and f = frequency (%. Table 4 . Similar responses were also recorded on the effect of precautionary measures on their ability to do their job as well as financial losses. A substantial number of the participants expressed emotional distress, as evidenced by worry (65%), anxiety (42%), panic (35%), depression (16%), while 3% are happy with the COVID-19 pandemic. During the stay at home order, 78% of the respondents indicated that they make use of the phone, two-third were spending time with their families, about half of the respondents were engaged in book reading, listening to music, while nearly three-quarter were sleeping, praying and resting. Thirty percent of respondents were engaged in exercises as shown in Table 4 . The confirmation of cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria and the public perception of the disease and concerns about Nigeria's level of preparedness are already fueling fear and panic in the country.

Part E: government intervention
The Nigeria government had reinforced its level of preparedness through public sensitization, the establishment of in-country COVID-19 diagnostic laboratories and isolation facilities, enforce- Where n = number of respondents, f = frequency in percentages and N = total number of the respondents. ment of lockdown order, and provision of palliatives to citizens. However, the survey, as shown in Table 5 indicated that the government's intervention in managing and curbing the spread of COVID-19 was insufficient as 59% of respondents believed that government intervention was insufficient. Meanwhile, about 3/4th of the participants reported that the provision of personal protective equipment (PPEs) was insufficient, while 11% answered that there was no provision of PPEs. Moreover, it shows that only 18% believed that the government had provided adequate PPEs for her health workers in combating COVID-19, 37% of respondents disagreed while 44% were not sure. As shown in Table 5 , over 30% of the respondents either agreed or disagreed that the information provided by the health authorities to the public was accurate, while 27% Where n = number of respondents, f = frequency in percentages and N = total number of the respondents.
of respondents remained indifferent. Similar opinions were recorded for the action taken by the health authority in each state of residence of the participants. Table 5 shows that equal proportions (about one fourth) of the participants disagree, agree, or indifferent that they have had the chance to express their personal views and concerns to the authorities if they wanted to. To alleviate the burden caused by the lockdown effect of COVID-19 on the citizens, over 70% of the participants felt that relief materials and support provided by the government to her citizens were inadequate. In contrast, 10% agreed on the adequacy of materials and support provided by the government as shown in Table 5 .
It was observed as shown in Table 6 that the knowledge of the outbreak of COVID-19 was influenced by the age ( p < 0.05), gender ( p < 0.05), level of education ( p < 0.05), marital status ( p < 0.05) and employment status ( p < 0.05).. Both age ( p = 0.03) and level of education ( p < 0.05) influenced the respiratory and personal hygiene of the respondents while only age significantly ( p = 0.02) influenced the perception of the respondents towards the government intervention strategies. None of the socio-demographic variables significantly ( p > 0.05) influenced the perception of the respondents on the impact of the outbreak and lockdown. The data showed that 99.7% of the respondents were aware of the outbreak irrespective of age, gender, level of education, marital and employment status and the participants were all affected although at different levels. Where n = number of respondents, f = frequency in percentages and N = total number of the respondents.

Experimental design, materials and methods
This was a cross-sectional data carried out in Nigeria and a Snowball sampling technique was used. Using the Google form, an online questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was distributed through electronic means, and this was easily shared on social media including WhatsApp [1] which is a smartphone/desktop enabled social media platform with over one billion global users [2] . The participants who were the first point of contact were encouraged to disseminate the link of the survey to other contacts, this enabled the survey to reach as many respondents as possible. Data collected through the Google form commenced from March 27 to April 7, 2020, during the lockdown period in Nigeria.
Participation in the data was voluntary and participants could withdraw at any time. On receiving and clicking the link, participants were auto directed to the synopsis that explained the purpose of the data, and only the participants that consented were included in the data. Participants were directed to complete the demographic details then a set of several questions followed which the participants were to answer. No personal or private data was collected and similarly, the data collection procedure followed the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki on human subjects [3] .
It was an online data therefore participants with access to the internet could participate. All participants resident in any of the states in Nigeria, 16 years and above, were eligible. The authors were able to collect data from across various states of Nigeria. The socio-demographic variables included age, gender, employment status, education, marital status, and state of residence.
The questionnaire (Part A -E) consisted of the following sections: socio-demographic information as described by Odeyemi et al. [4] ., awareness of COVID-19, respiratory and personal hygiene undertaken by participants, impacts on health, emotion, finances, and the effectiveness of government intervention. Questions on the awareness of COVID-19 that were asked included symptoms of the disease, source (s) of information about the outbreak, time of awareness, and social distancing. Eight questions on respiratory and personal hygiene such as the covering of the mouth with a tissue or handkerchief/elbow when sneezing or coughing, the use of soap or alcohol to sanitize the hands, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), social distancing, washing or sanitizing hands after handling / withdrawing cash, and effect of the lockdown. The researchers also examined the impact of the outbreak on the participants' personal or family lifestyle, job, income, and emotions. Similarly, the survey asked the participants if they spent time with family and or did the following: reading books, listening to music, exercising, sleeping/resting, using phone, praying, and working remotely. The last part evaluated the perception of the participants regarding the government's intervention strategies in curbing the spread of the virus, adequate provision of PPE to the health workers and citizens [5] , timely dissemination of COVID-19 related information to the public and provision of relief materials.
The above questions were then designed and grouped into six parts (A-E) using Google form. Google form was used because it enabled the questionnaire to be sent electronically while the responses are collected in real-time and automatically available in Google spreadsheets. More so, due to the lockdown, the questionnaire could not be distributed physically. Therefore, there was no facility to check the validity of the information provided by the respondents thereby making it impossible to track biases. Nevertheless, this is not without agreement with previous findings on the impacts of outbreak of virus/disease on public's emotion and behavior [6][7] The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics to describe the sociodemographic information [8] , while analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to describe the effect of the independent variables on awareness, myths, impacts and government intervention using statistical package for social sciences -IBM SPSS v 25 [ 6 , 8 ].

Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships which have, or could be perceived to have, influenced the work reported in this article.