Introduction
This century has witnessed the biggest global health problem that has affected every aspect of human life. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has already claimed almost 1.2 million lives all over the world, and 47 million people have been infected by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) till November 2, 2020 [1]. To date, no reliable treatment or vaccine is available for the control of the disease, and thus adherence to preventive measures are the most important interventions to control the disease.
Several guidelines have recommended using masks, a physical distancing of more than six feet, and hand hygiene as prevention practices against COVID-19, which are effective in breaking the chain of transmission [2, 3]. Although most people are aware of these infection prevention practices, it is not certain what proportion of people comply with these practices in their day to day lives. Whether a lapse in these preventive practices is actually associated with an increased chance of being infected by SARS-CoV-2 needs to be investigated.
This study was conducted in an outpatient setting at a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi, India, to study the self-reported compliance to the preventive practices followed by the general public as well as the healthcare workers who visited the clinic to get themselves tested for COVID-19. The study's objective was to determine whether a specific socio-demographic factor or preventive practice was associated with the probability of a person being COVID-19 positive.