OBSERVANCES OF THE CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 CONTROL AND PREVENTION MEASURES AMONG THAI COMMUNITY PHARMACIES

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the observances of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) control and prevention measures of the Ministry of Public Health among Thai community pharmacies.

Methods: This survey study gathered the data through an online questionnaire from 25 February to 5 March 2022 among the community pharmacists. Accidental sampling was used to sampling the participants. Descriptive statistics were used in statistical analysis. Community pharmacies' practices were compared before and after the COVID-19 pandemic using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test. Significance level was determined at p<0.05.

Results: A total of 50 pharmacists responded to the survey. The most common measures that drugstores followed were wearing a facemask during service (n=49, 98.0%), hand cleaning before and after service (n=49, 98.0%), and routine sanitizing of equipment and service areas (n=48, 96.0%). The least common measures undertook by drugstores were hand washbasin installation (n=14, 28.0%) and placing warning labels to limit exposure (n=22, 44.0%).

Conclusion: Drugstores cooperated in complying with the COVID-19 control and prevention measures, but they still need to encourage some additional actions to provide safety, standardized and convenient service to customers.