Coronavirus Related Fears among Residents of Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: The emerging epidemic coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis rattled nearly every sphere of life across all over the globe, aim of the study was to explore fears produced due to the swift spread of the deadly virus among residents of Karachi city, Pakistan.
Method: A 10–item Coronavirus Fear Questionnaire (CVFQ) with good reliability (a=.75, p<.01) purposely constructed based on
informal interviews from the general population and administered on (N=264) participants invited via an online Google based
survey.

Results: Outcomes showed the prevalence of fears related to the infection to oneself (76.5%), family (84.5%), contagious transmissions (62.9%), death of loved ones (72.3%), financial constraints (80.7%), increase in prices (85.2%), disease rumors (80.7%), restriction of mobility (71.2%), and social rejections (61.7%).

Conclusion: It was concluded that residents of Karachi possess different fears related to COVID-19, which warrants appropriate psychosocial attention.

Key words: Coronavirus, Questionnaire, Reliability, Fears, Karachi, Pakistan