COVID19 AWARENESS AMONG THE RURAL MASS IN THE STATE OF TRIPURA, INDIA – AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

The world has seen an unexpected and unforeseen health crisis, the deadliest of the century during the last year. Identified first in December 2019 in Wuhan of China, the deadly viral disease named Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) has completely disrupted the normal life of the people of almost all the countries of the world. World Health Organization has no other alternative than declaring the corona virus outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020 and later as a Pandemic on 11 March 2020. As there is no vaccine to protect against this COVID-19, adopting safety measures can only reduce the chances of getting infected. Awareness, precautions and testing are the only saviours. India with around 98.5 lakhs people already infected by this virus is second in the world with death toll reaching 1.42 lakhs. Tripura, the tiny north eastern state of India is also facing the shock. In this background, the present study aims at investigating the awareness level of the village people at Tripura and to assess the crisis and challenges they have confronted during the lockdown period.