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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected all aspects of public life, as well as all of the country's population. The Roma community is specific and vulnerable to communicable diseases, in particular to COVID-19. Aim: To study the knowledge and attitudes of people from the Roma ethnic community about the coronavirus infection. Methods: In July-August 2020 in Parvomay, Sliven, and Plovdiv through individual interviews "face to face" 105 respondents with Roma background were interviewed. A structured anonymous questionnaire was used, including 12 closed-ended questions. Results: The majority of respondents (80%) indicated that they know what a coronavirus infection is, as the main source of information was television (83.8%). The virus is considered a danger by 65.7%, and 73.7% of the respondents tend to follow certain measures (washing hands, wearing masks, etc.) to protect themselves. To the specific question of how they protect themselves, the answers varied from drinking brandy (9.5%), frequent ventilation (24.8%), and washing hands (58.1%) to wearing masks (63.8%). Only 1/3 of the respondents were willing to receive the vaccine and 45.3% were to be tested for the infection. Conclusion: Adherence to basic preventive measures is not optimal, including vaccination, and this necessitates the need for field meetings, trust building and communication techniques to inform the community. |
