Knowledge and Perception Related to the New SARS-CoV-2 Variants amongst the General Population and the Healthcare Workers in Delhi NCR: A Survey-based Study

The emergence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a pandemic in the modern world. SARS-CoV-2 is a highly mutating virus and thus numerous variants can be seen globally. A crosssectional survey was conducted to assess the knowledge of not only healthcare professionals and students but also of the general population about the different variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The total number of participants that took part in the study was 192. 192 participants took part in the study. Most of the participants were female (63%) between the age group of 19-22 years. The majority of the respondents were Undergraduate medical or dental students (64.06%) followed by the general population (17.7%). During this knowledge assessment, it was seen that the average marks scored were only 5.42 out of 14. Genetic lineage of SARS-CoV-2 have been arising and circulating all over the world since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the study was to assess the knowledge and perception of healthcare workers and the general population. It was found that the healthcare workers were more knowledgeable and aware about the variant when compared with general population. This is due to the fact that they play a crucial role in diagnosis, containment, and treatment.