ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to examine theeffect of covid-19 pandemic on social relationship among students of Nasarawa State University, Keffi. Specifically, the study was aimed at examining the extent to which covid-19 pandemic affected peer-to-peer close contact of students in Nasarawa State University, Keffi, evaluate the extent to which the imposed social distancing preventive measure disrupted social activities and events in Nasarawa State University, Keffi, and investigate if Covid-19 affected peer-to-peer visitation of students in Nasarawa State University, Keffi. The study employed the survey descriptive research design. A total of 259 responses were validated from the survey. From the responses obtained and analysed, the findings revealed that the Covid-19 pandemic had a significant negative effect on peer-to-peer close contact of students in Nasarawa State University, Keffi. Also, the imposed social distancing preventive measure disrupted social activities and events in Nasarawa State University, Keffi to a high extent. The findings further revealed that the Covid-19 pandemic did negatively affect peer-to-peer visitation of students in Nasarawa State University, Keffi. The study therefore recommend that since the COVID-19 pandemic is negatively affecting social relationships of students, which could ultimately lead to negative health implications. Decision-makers are advised to provide educational campaigns that improve the sociological health of the students and informing them about contemporary alternative communication media (telecommunication). This is expected to lead to better social relationships and communication across the whole population, enabling people to cope better with the pandemic and to maintain societal well-being and productivity. Also, government of Nigeria should make sure that all students receive the covid-19 vaccine and also abide by the safety measures put in place to curb the spread of the virus.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic gripped the world with a shock, thereby overwhelming the health system of most nations. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel human coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, which began in Wuhan, China on December 8, 2019, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on January 30, 2020 (WHO, 2020). With over seven million cases globally as of June 7 (2020): United States (over two million cases), Brazil (over 700,000 cases), Russia (over 500,000 cases), and in Africa, South Africa (over 54,000 cases) and Egypt (over 38,000 cases) bearing the greater brunt as of 9 April 2020 (WHO 2020). Following this WHO declaration, the Coronavirus Preparedness Group was constituted on January 31 in Nigeria. According to WHO, Nigeria was one of the 13 high-risk African countries with respect to the spread of COVID-19. however, Nigeria is also among the vulnerable African nations, given the weak state of the healthcare system (Marbot, 2020).
Coronaviruses are zoonotic viruses that cause moderate respiratory tract infections as well as lethal pneumonia in humans, according to researchers. (Su, S., Wong, G., and others, 2016)Â Â Human coronaviruses (HCoV) were first discovered in the noses of patients with the common cold in the 1960s (Felman A 2020). The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention identified seven coronaviruses that can affect people as: 229E (alpha coronavirus), NL63 (alpha coronavirus), OC43 (beta coronavirus), HKU1 (beta coronavirus), MERS-CoV (the beta coronavirus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome), SARS-CoV (the beta coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome) and SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19).
