Knowledge and new norms practices among remote communities in malaysia during covid-19 pandemic

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic has affected all levels of urban, suburban and rural area communities. The new terms such as Movement Control Order (MCO), Lockdown, compliance of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), online shopping, home-based teaching and learning (PDPR) and food delivery services made a family seem to have a sort of cultural shock. For those who understand and could accept the reality, they were easily adapted. However, the acceptance level of a family institution toward challenges and ‘the new norms’ was still unknown. Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the knowledge and understanding level of COVID-19 among remote communities from the health aspect and the impact on their family. Methodology: This pilot study was performed at a selected area in Johor, Malaysia. A physical interview was done whereby the head of the selected family was asked with eight (8) sectioned questions. The research team had to undergo a strict SOP and all members were required to do Rapid Test Kit before collecting data. All test results were uploaded into MySejahtera application. A total of 104 respondents were interviewed from 12th September 2021 until 17th September 2021. Findings: The findings showed that 46.6% of the remote communities experienced a reduction in gross monthly income. The majority of them have knowledge on COVID-19 and more than 50% of respondents practised the new normal such as wearing face masks, washing hands frequently, staying at home and practising physical distancing. Conclusion: This study revealed that the remote communities have fair knowledge on good health practices against COVID-19 and they were aware of the effects of this pandemic toward their family institutions. Thus, further study should be done in Malaysia to verify the effects comprehensively.