David O. Akeju1 | Samuel O. Adejoh2 |
Ayoola J. Fakunmoju3 | Matthew J. Allsop4 |
Bassey Ebenso5 | Titilayo Tade6 | Babasola O. Okusanya7
The global threat which continues to accompany SARSCoV‐
2 has led to a global response which adopts lockdown
and stays home policy as means of curtailing its
spread. This study investigates compliance with the Stay
Home policy and exposure to COVID‐19 in Nigeria. A
survey was conducted from April 4 to May 8, 2020 using
a cross‐sectional mixed‐methods approach to elicit responses
from 879 participants across six geopolitical
zones of Nigeria. Descriptive, χ2, and multiple regression
tests were used to analyze survey data using SPSS,
whereas NVivo v12 was used for thematic analysis of
qualitative data. States with complete lockdown had
72.4% of respondents complying fully with the policy
compared with 44.2% of respondents in zones with the
partial lockdown. Market places, classified as high‐risk
zones, were the most visited (n = 505; 71.0%). Though
compliance was influenced by the nature of lockdown
enforced ( χ2 = 70.385, df = 2; p < 0.05), being a female,
a widow, and unemployed were associated with increased
compliance. Exposure to COVID‐19 was associated
with being married, unemployed, and having no
income. Fear, anxiety, and misperception play major
roles in compliance. The authors conclude that compliance
is not uniform and a more nuanced and targeted
approach is required as the government continues to
respond to the COVID‐19 global pandemic.
Key Points
- Exposure to risk of COVID‐19 infection was conditioned
by social and economic realities.