1. INTRODUCTION
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is considered as one of the most
widespread pandemics since long. Because of its high transmission rate
and unusual infection characteristic, it has become a worldwide public
health threat. After the first case being diagnosed in Wuhan, China, in
December 2019, the world health organization (WHO) declared it a global
health emergency. The causative pathogen was later named as a novel
coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which is also called as severe acute
respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) (Huang et al., 2020).
Fever, fatigue, sore throat, prolonged dry cough, headache, nasal
blockage, diarrhea, etc. are the beginning symptoms of this disease that
may lead to several fatal complications like organ failure and severe
pneumonia (Chen et al., 2020).
As of January 5, 2021, there are more than 83 million confirmed cases in
almost every country and territory with a burden of nearly 2 million
deaths (WHO, 2020) This disease has already made its deadly mark in
Bangladesh since the first case spotted on March 08, 2020. There are
nearly 2 lac people affected by it, along with a number of the dead of
more than two thousand. In Bangladesh, the most confirmed cases of
COVID-19 are in Dhaka, with almost 20% of total cases across the
country (IEDCR, 2020).
Bangladesh is still in a grave condition where thousands of people are
getting affected every day. The government of Bangladesh is doing its
best to improve the situation and trying implementing various measures
to make the people aware of the situation. The general holidays were
taken up to May 31, 2020, for the sixth time. All educational
institutions are still remained closed, although online classes and
lectures are going on (Jubayer et al., 2021). The government offices are
also functioning, maintaining all safety measures. The economy of this
country is mostly reliant on the processing and manufacturing sectors,
and most people make their living through daily income. Nevertheless,
‘working from home’ is not a feasible option for food processing or any
other manufacturing industry (Maria et al., 2020). Also, for avoiding
the risk of food shortage, the highest priorities should be given on
supply chains to function appropriately (Galanakis, 2020). Some similar
reasons drive the industries running their operation during this
situation. That is why it is necessary to ensure good health and safety
for the food handlers providing high importance in maintaining physical
distance in manufacturing plants (Shahidi, 2020). According to the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, a food processing industry is a
critical infrastructure, where the workers are needed to work in an
enhanced safe environment (Dyal, 2020)
Along with food safety, the manufacturers should now encompass measures
for the prevention and control of coronavirus within their plant (SGS,
2020). The SARS-CoV-2 is not a foodborne disease, as there is no
evidence of transmission through any food product (EFSA,2020; Shahidi,
2020). Standard handling procedures for food is supposed to be enough
for the management of COVID-19 inside the factory, so long as personal
distancing and additional safety procedures are conformed (SGS, 2020).
However, no respiratory virus is transmitted via food. But, there is a
chance of transmission if any infected person touches the food, sneezes
or coughs on it, and after that, another person makes contact with the
same food and touches his nose, eyes, or swallows it (Galanakis, 2020;
Rizou et al., 2020). Therefore, careful handling of foods and packaging
materials, practicing proper personal hygiene, especially washing and
sanitizing hands extensively, should be ensured by the management of
every food manufacturing industry. The FDA has suggested cleaning and
sanitizing the food contact surface before production operation as
precaution measures (Seymour et al., 2020). So, it may be possible for
the workers to be infected with the virus through contact surfaces and
surroundings when working.
For the successful prevention and control of this coronavirus disease
(COVID-19), the people must obey the control measures as suggested by
the World Health Organization (WHO, 2020). The success of implementing
preventive measures is mostly dependent on the knowledge, attitude, and
practices of an individual (Ajilore et al., 2017; Karim et al., 2020;
Zhong et al., 2020). Several studies revealed that the prevention of the
previous SARS outbreak was associated somewhat with the knowledge and
attitude of people towards infectious diseases (Tao, 2003; Person et
al., 2004). However, in the current aspect of Bangladesh and food
industries here, there is no authentic study or reports regarding food
handler’s safety, food safety, and measures taken during the time of
this pandemic. Also, consumer health, worker’s health, and working
environment are of paramount concern. To enable and facilitate the
management of the COVID-19 within Bangladesh’s food industries, we feel
an urge to understand and evaluate the worker’s awareness and knowledge
towards the disease at this crucial moment. Hence, the current study was
carried out to investigate the COVID-19-related knowledge, attitude, and
practices (KAP) of workers from a joint venture food industry in Dhaka
at the time of COVID-19’s emergence in Bangladesh.