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.