During the first week of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) U.S. outbreak, many adults with underlying health conditions in Chicago lacked knowledge of COVID-19 and reported they had no intention to change routines or plans because of the outbreak.
From March 13th to 20th, before shelter-in-place orders were established in Chicago, 630 adults with at least one underlying health condition participated in the cross-sectional survey. Researchers found that 24.6 percent of participants were "very worried" about getting COVID-19. However, 28.3 percent could not correctly identify the symptoms and 30.2 percent could not identify ways to prevent infection. Nearly 25 percent of respondents thought they were "not at all likely" to get the virus, and 21.9 percent reported it had little to no effect on their daily routine.
"They didn't think they would get the virus and weren't changing their daily routine or plans," lead investigator Michael Wolf, Ph.D., M.P.H., of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a news release. "If you don't take action early on, it can be too late. Their delayed action to social distance could have put them at risk."