GeoPoll has undertaken a research on Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Sub-Saharan Africa. The survey focused on COVID-19 in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.
In each country under study, awareness levels, primary information sources, knowledge of how to prevent the virus, and levels of worry were examined.
The GeoPoll study revealed that, with a total sample size of 1,350 (450 per country), 94 per cent, representing 1,275 respondents were aware of the recent outbreak. Thus, it was concluded that awareness of the new coronavirus outbreak is high across all countries studied.
The primary information source disclosed by the study was high levels of media coverage of the Coronavirus Disease even before it had impacted the studied countries.
The surveys showed that majority (75%) of respondents were aware of the symptoms of Coronavirus. Respondents rightly identified fever, cough, and shortness of breath as the most common symptoms of COVID-19.
Most known transmission modes cited in the report included; ‘being near an infected person’ ‘touching an infected person’ and ‘air’.
In terms of respondents levels of worry, an overall 70% believed they were at risk of being exposed and public places as well as public transport were thought of as the places with the greatest risk of exposure.
On the other hand, addressing knowledge of how to prevent the virus, increasing hygiene was the most-cited preventative measure by majority (73%) of the respondents.
GeoPoll is a full service research provider that consists of both a robust, multi-modal mobile surveying platform and a panel of respondents around the globe. It has been a leader in providing affordable market research from areas that are difficult to access using traditional methods, conducting over 10 million surveys per year through the mobile phone.