The Preparedness of Public Healthcare Settings and Providers to Face the COVID-19 Pandemic

The objective of this study was to measure the preparedness of public healthcare settings and providers to face the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study based on an electronic survey (Qualtrics, USA) in English distributed among healthcare providers (HCPs). The target participants were Iraqi HCPs (pharmacists, physicians, and dentists) working in public healthcare settings across the country. The survey was distributed via two professional Facebook groups between March 22 and April 7, 2020.The authors modified the survey items from previous studies of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and H1N1 influenza outbreaks. The participants' continuous characteristics were expressed as mean, and standard deviation. The categorical variables were expressed as frequencies and percentages. Results: The authors received 317 surveys. All the seven items measuring HCP awareness of COVID-19 disease and preventive measures were above average with total mean of 27.91 (+/- 4.21) out of 35 points. In contrast, ten out of 12 items measuring the public hospital preparedness to COVID-19 were below average (between 1.73 and 2.7 out of 5) particularly those related to provide staff trainings and protective personal equipment (PPE). Only keeping suspected COVID-19 patients in an isolation room and disinfecting hospital units regularly were above the average. Additionally, 81% of the participants stated that the Ministry of Health (MOH) did not provide hospitals with adequate number of mechanical ventilators. Conclusions: The HCPs have adequate level of awareness of COVID-19; however, the public healthcare settings need to address the gap in the staff training and provide adequate PPE to HCPs. The survey items can be used to measure the healthcare preparedness in other countries.