3.7. Practice of Preventative Measures
Nearly a third of pilgrims (n = 305; 30.1%) never wore a face mask in crowded areas during Umrah in 2019. In contrast, similar numbers said they always wore a face mask (n = 351, 34.6%) in crowded areas. The majority of pilgrims (n = 840, 82.9%) did wash their hands with soap and water or sanitizers after coughing and sneezing. Most pilgrims reported that they never used an umbrella or hat to protect them from the sun (n = 509, 50.2%), while some always used an umbrella or hat (n = 144, 14.2%) (Table 5).
Table 6 shows the responses to items on aspects of availability and the sources of Personal Protective Equipment. Many pilgrims reported face masks were not available (n = 642, 63.4%).
Table 7 reports the association between receiving some form of health education and practicing of preventative measures by pilgrims. Receiving health education was significantly associated with the wearing of face masks in crowded areas (p = 0.04) and healthy practice score (i.e., washing hands with water, soap, or sanitizers, use of personal tools, disposing of used tissues in waste bin) (p = 0.02).
Table 8 indicates that the majority of pilgrims were very satisfied with the Saudi Arabian MOH Services (n = 734, 72.9%).