Project Materials

INVESTIGATING THE COVID-19 SAFETY COMPLANCE LEVEL IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Chapter one

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Coronavirus pandemic 2019 (COVID-19) is the newest infectious disease to spread fast over the world (Van Doremalen, 2020), resulting in a terrible global pandemic [McDowel, 2020].

COVID-19 is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which first surfaced in Wuhan, China [WHO, 2020].

The epidemic of coronavirus illness (COVID-19) has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), with the virus affecting numerous nations, including Nigeria.

Coronaviruses (COVID-19) are positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses with diameters ranging from 60 nm to 140 nm with spike-like projections around their edges, giving them a crown-like appearance.

Their viral genome is RNA, with lengths ranging from 26 to 32 kilobases. COVID-19 is part of the Nidovirales order, which includes the Roniviridae, Arteriviridae, and Coronaviridae families.

The Coronviridae family is divided into Torovirinae and Coronavirinae subfamilies. Coronavirinae are further classed as alpha, beta, gamma, and delta. These virus subtypes are classified using phylogenetic grouping.

It can be isolated from a variety of animal species. The first instance of coronavirus was reported in 1960, and a Canadian research in 2001 identified roughly 500 people as having a flu-like system, with 17 to 18 cases being verified as being infected with coronavirus via PCR.

These include livestock, birds, and mammals like bats, camels, masked palm civets, dogs, mice, and cats. In 2003, different reports were released on the spread of Coronavirus in many countries, including Hong Kong, the United States of America, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and Taiwan, and there were several cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by Coronavirus, with over 1000 people dying.

A pandemic is a disease outbreak that spans multiple countries or continents. It affects more people and kills more people than an epidemic, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) proclaimed COVID-19 a pandemic when it became obvious that the illness was severe and spreading rapidly across a large territory.

The global spread of pandemic Covid-19 has disrupted the world’s educational, political, social, economic, religious, and financial systems. The world’s largest economies, including the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and many others, are on the edge of collapse.

Furthermore, global stock markets have taken a beating, and oil prices have plummeted. In just one week, 3.3 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits, and another 6.6 million began looking for work the next week.

Furthermore, several economic and financial professionals have expressed concern about the deteriorating state of the global economic and financial framework.

The outbreak of this virus in Nigeria resulted in various restrictions on all sectors of operations in Nigeria, as it was described as communicable and lethal by the World Health Organisation.

To prevent and manage the spread of the virus in Nigeria, the federal government regulated the use of face masks, social distancing, and the use of sanitisers while washing hands and cleaning surfaces. These safety precautions apply to all sectors, including academic institutions.

However, before schools resumed, the Nigerian government advised all institutions to ensure adequate compliance with Covid-19 safety precautions.

As a result, the extent to which secondary schools in Asaba Delta State, Nigeria, adhere to the prescribed safety precautions has been unknown, as has been the case in other regions of Nigeria. This uncertainty led to the development of this study.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Coronavirus sickness is primarily transmitted by contact with an infected individual who coughs or sneezes. It can also spread when a person touches a surface or object contaminated with the virus and then touches their eyes, nose, or mouth.

Covid-19 has been identified as a horrific and dangerous disease capable of claiming the lives of children, adolescents, youths, and adults worldwide.

Since the virus’s first breakout in Nigeria, the Nigerian government has implemented prophylactic measures in secondary schools across the country. According to the World Health Organisation, these stated measures, which are consistent with those of the Nigerian government, include: constant use of face masks, constant washing of hands, with schools providing water and soup at strategic areas on school grounds before students enter the school, use of hand sanitisers, maintaining social distancing by arranging the classroom to comply with this, and avoiding touching of surfaces.

However, most secondary schools in Nigeria are overcrowded, and the prevalence of law breaking and neglect among teenagers (secondary school pupils) is alarming.

According to Carlis (2003), secondary students are the majority of teenagers who like exercising their free will and acting as executors and emulators for their peers.

As a result, the purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which secondary schools comply with covid-19 safety measures.

1.3 PURPOSES OF THE STUDY

The fundamental or most important goal of this research is to investigate the Covid-19 Safety Compliance Level in Secondary Schools. Other specific objectives include:

To determine whether secondary school pupils in Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria, comply with the Covid-19 safety precautions.

To determine the extent to which pupils follow covid-19 preventative measures?

To determine how well the staff and management of Asaba’s secondary schools comply to covid-19 prevention measures.

To investigate the frequency with which the government monitoring team visits secondary schools in Asaba to ensure that the schools fully and consistently comply with the covid-19 prevention measures.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION.

1. Do secondary school pupils in Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria comply with the Covid-19 safety precautions?

2. To what extent do students follow prevention measures?

3. To what extent do students follow prevention measures?

4. How frequently does the government monitoring team visit secondary schools in Asaba to check that the schools are fully and consistently implementing the covid-19 prevention measures?

1.5 Significance of the Study

This study will be of immeasurable value to the federal and state governments since it will reveal the situation of compliance among secondary school pupils in Asaba Delta State, as well as the gaps created by enforcement agencies that prescribe irregular adherence to covid 19 norms and limits.

And the recommendations will have a significant impact on how to tighten limitations. However, the study will also assist school stakeholders in determining the best strategy to safeguard the safety of their pupils.

This study will be useful as a reference for students, researchers, and scholars who wish to conduct additional research on this topic or a comparable domain in the future.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study, which investigates the Covid-19 Safety Compliance Level in Secondary Schools, only includes a few secondary schools in Asaba Metropolis, Delta State, Nigeria.

1.7 Definition of Terms

Compliance is the act of complying and observing what is authorised and legal.

Transportation Company: A transportation company is a business that moves goods from one area to another, and it plays an important role in the manufacturing value chain.

Covid 19, commonly known as coronavirus, is a communicable respiratory disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus that infects humans.

Government: The body of people who govern a political unit or organisation, such as. a: the officials who make up a political unit’s governing body and make the organisation an active agency.