Prevalence of COVID-19 in West Gondar Zone, Northwest Ethiopia: A Population-Based Retrospective Study

Abstract Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly around the world, affecting every community directly or indirectly. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the prevalence of COVID-19 infection in the population of the West Gondar zone. Method: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2020 to January 2021, in the West Gondar zone, Northwest Ethiopia. Records of study participants with required information like age, gender, travel history, type of specimen taken, and site of specimen taken were included. For analysis, the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20 software was used. Descriptive statistics were summarized as percentages and means ± standard deviation. The chi-squared test is used to compare categorical data. Results: A total of 1,166 participants were enrolled in this study. Of them, 16 individuals had positive results, giving a prevalence of 1.37% (95% CI: 0.66-2.08). Living in an urban area ( P -value = 0.035) and being female ( P -value = 0.045) was statistically associated with the positive rate for COVID-19. Conclusions: This study revealed a low prevalence of COVID-19 infection in the study area despite the increasing and rapid dissemination of the disease. State-wide population prevalence study should be done to estimate the general prevalence of COVID-19 in Ethiopia.