Knowledge and Perception Regarding COVID-19 Among School Children: Online Survey Done in Selected Private Schools of Pokhara, Nepal

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by newly discovered coronavirus. The virus is mainly spread between people during close contact. The best way to prevent and slow down rate is to wash hands or using alcohol-based rub frequently and social distancing.  A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 182 school children who were attending online classes in 2 private schools to assess the knowledge and perception regarding COVID-19. The results showed that 43.4% children had inadequate knowledge and 57.1% children had poor perception regarding COVID-19. Majority of school children got information through social media. There was a strong positive correlation between the level of knowledge and level of perception among children (r=0.0243, p=0.001). The perception level had a significant association with sex, ethnicity and area of residence (p=0.018, 0.013, 0.015, respectively) and knowledge level had a significant association with ethnicity (p=0.001). Study concluded that there was a gap in knowledge among school children and even if the knowledge level was adequate, more than fifty percent school children had poor perception regarding COVID-19. Due to insufficient knowledge and poor perception of COVID-19 in school children, they may have to suffer the negative consequences of this pandemic.