BackgroundIn addition to high vaccination levels, COVID-19 control requires uptake and continued adherence to personal hygiene and social distancing behaviors. It is unclear whether residents of a city with successive experience in worldwide pandemics such as SARS, would quickly adopt and maintain preventive behaviors.MethodsA population-based, longitudinal telephone survey was conducted between in first local wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2020) and third local wave (December 2020) (n = 403). The study examined factors associated with personal hygiene and social distancing behavior fatigue, as measured by reduced adherence.ResultsOver 9 months, face mask use increased (96.5-100%, p ConclusionEven in regions with past pandemic experience, maintaining social distancing behaviors during a protracted pandemic remains a major public health challenge.
Journal article
BMC public health
03/2023
23
JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Hong Kong, Pandemics, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2