MISINFORMATION RELATED TO COVID-19 IN INDONESIA

Abstract

Background: An increase in COVID-19 cases has been accompanied by an increase in public misinformation of basic coronavirus facts, its transmission and prevention. Aims: This study described public knowledge of COVID-19 misinformation in Indonesia. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study using online questionnaires for data collection from 4 to 11 April 2020. The questionnaires consisted of two parts regarding demographic characteristics and knowledge of misinformation. The sample in this study was 530 respondents. Descriptive analysis was used for data analysis. Results: The majority of respondents were below 25 years old (n = 342, 64.5%) and graduated from junior/senior high school education (n = 277, 52.3%). There were 13.2% of respondents who believed the COVID-19 can halt in Indonesia's climate, while 27.7% of them stated that COVID-19 is a biological weapon deliberaly created by a country. Meanwhile, 19.6% believed that gargling with salt water or vinegar can kill the COVID-19. Conclusion: A group of people still did not get misinformation of the COVID-19. Various efforts need to undertake to align community understanding of COVID-19 prevention, and thus they could get accurate information. Keywords: COVID-19, misinformation, prevention measures, SARC-CoV-2.