What is it about?
his study evaluates COVID-19 social distancing compliance at a university in southeastern Nigeria using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. The experiment, conducted across six faculties, reveals low compliance rates with the social distancing protocol, with an average compliance of only 24%. The Faculty of Medicine had the lowest compliance (14%), while Engineering and Education showed slightly better compliance (32%). RFID technology proved effective in measuring real-time compliance, offering more accurate data than traditional methods like interviews or surveys. The study highlights the need for improved enforcement of social distancing to curb COVID-19 spread within the university.
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Why is it important?
This study is unique in its use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to measure real-time social distancing compliance at a university in southeastern Nigeria. The research provides more accurate data than traditional methods such as surveys or interviews, revealing alarmingly low compliance rates (24% on average). Notably, the Faculty of Medicine had the lowest compliance, with only 14%, highlighting specific areas of concern. The study underscores the effectiveness of RFID in tracking behavior and calls for improved enforcement of social distancing measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on campus.
Perspectives
The use of RFID technology in evaluating the COVID-19 compliance is a significant improvement over traditional survey methods, which can be prone to biases or inaccuracies. The real-time data provided by RFID offers a much clearer picture of actual behavior, which is often a challenge in compliance studies. The deviant from the report is alarming when compared to other report. From the result, the low compliance rates, especially the 14% compliance in the Faculty of Medicine. This could prompt thoughts on the effectiveness of university health protocols, student behavior, and the potential need for stronger enforcement or better communication about the importance of social distancing. Hence the need to advocating consideration of application of RFID technology in public event, work place to track compliance of various health protocols.
Ngozi Eli-Chukwu
Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu Alike, Ebony State
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Evaluating compliance with COVID-19 social distancing protocol in a university in the south-east of Nigeria using radio frequency identification, International Journal of RF Technologies, November 2023, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.3233/rft-221503.
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