| Summary: | Introduction: Rwanda has strengthened and decentralized COVID-19 response activities to control its spread and protect its citizens. Surveillance activities through laboratory investigations are carried out across the country. The COVID-19 positivity rate was 4.8% in the Southern Province. We identified the predictors of COVID-19 infection in the Southern province from June 2020 to January 2021.
Methods: The study used secondary data collected in 8 months from June 2020 to January 2021. Data were extracted from the Health Management Information System (HMIS) in MS Excel and analyzed using STATA SE 13. A logistic regression model was used to measure the association between the outcome and the predictor variables. The direction and strength of association were expressed using odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Statistical significance was declared at p-value <0.05.
Results: A total of 23651 samples were analyzed. The average positivity rate in the south province was 4.7%; Muhanga district with the highest and Kamonyi district with the lowest at 9.8% and 1.4% respectively. Men were mostly affected 954 (85.6%) and the 18-34 years age group was the most affected with 323 (61%). The occupation type and clinical symptoms were significantly associated with COVID-19 in the Southern province. The frontline staff were more likely to have COVID-19 than other public servants (adjusted OR: 7.1, 95% CI:3.1-9.7), as were wanderers in rehabilitation centers (adjusted OR: 6.7, 95%CI: 3.1-14) and students (adjusted OR: 3.5, 95% CI: 1.6-7.9). Patients who had fever and headache were 2.7 times (95%CI:1.4-4.8) and 2.3 times (95% CI:1.6-3.3) respectively more likely to have COVID-19 than those who did not have these symptoms in the final multivariate logistic regression model.
Conclusion: The research concluded that certain occupations and having symptoms of fever and headache were significantly associated with COVID-19 positivity in Southern Province, Rwanda. Frontline workers should be protected and people living together such as students and wanderers in rehabilitation centers should be educated about preventive measures
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