Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Mar 11;25(1):954.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-22168-7.

The negative and positive: perceptions regarding COVID-19 pandemic among an online sample of adults; qualitative study

Thamudi Darshi Sundarapperuma  1 , Madushika Wishvanie Kodagoda Gamage  2 , Nirmala Rathnayake  2 , Eranthi Bimalee Weeratunga  2 , Hemamali Madhushanthi Hirimbura Jagodage  2
Affiliations

The negative and positive: perceptions regarding COVID-19 pandemic among an online sample of adults; qualitative study

Thamudi Darshi Sundarapperuma et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: The novel coronavirus disease, which is a global public health issue, changed the regular lifestyle of public globally causing multitude of stressors. This study aimed to describe the perception regarding the COVID-19 pandemic among an online sample of adults in Sri Lanka.

Methods: A descriptive exploratory study was conducted with a purposive selected sample of general public in Sri Lanka. Twelve in-depth interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide until data saturation. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results: All participants were below 50 years and educated upto advanced level. Seven themes were identified based on in-depth interviews; (1) traditional views regarding disease; (2) fear; (3) disrupted future plans; (4) impaired sense of responsibilities; (5) intense work stress (6) time to cherish, and (7) anticipated adjustments for future pandemics.

Conclusions: People have experienced fear, uncertainty, distracted future plans, and work stress due to the pandemic. However, they have also enjoyed spending time with their family members during this period.

Keywords: Covid-19; Experience; Perception; Public; Sri Lanka.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethics approval for this study was granted by the Ethics review committee, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka (Ref no: 02.06.2020: 3.3). All participants provided informed consent to participate, collected via an information sheet and consent form. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

References

    1. World Health Organization. WHO Announces COVID-19 Outbreak a Pandemic. Retrieved from: http://www.euro.who.int/en/heps//:coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.alth-topics/he.... 2020.
    1. Worldometer. Countries where Coronavirus has spread. Worldometers.info. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/countries-where-coronavirus-ha... 2021.
    1. The World Bank in Sri Lanka—Overview. https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/srilanka/overview 2022.
    1. Ullah A, Ashraf M, Ashraf S, Ahmed S. Challenges of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic encountered by students in Pakistan. J Pedagogical Sociol Psychol. 2021;3(1):36–44. 10.33902/JPSP.2021167264
    1. Chattoraj D. The grateful migrants: Indians and Bangladeshis in Singapore in times of Covid- 19. South East Asia: Multidisciplinary J. 2021;2020(2):44–62.