The Covid-19 pandemic, also known as the Coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of Corona virus disease 2019 (Covid-19) caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (SARS-CoV-2) which was originally discovered in an epidemic in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Attempts to contain it there failed, which allowed it to spread to other parts of the world.

The majority of corona virus infected individuals will have a mild to severe respiratory diseases and will recover without the need for special care. However, some people will get serious illnesses and need to take medical facilities. Serious sickness is more likely to strike older persons and those with underlying health problems including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or chronic respiratory diseases. Covid-19 can cause anyone to get very ill or pass away at any age, however, being knowledgeable about the illness and the virus’s propagation is the greatest strategy to stop or slow down transmission. This can be achieved by following guidelines given by WHO regarding Covid-19 preventive measures such as maintaining a distance of at least one meter with people, using a mask that fits properly, washing or sanitizing hands regularly, getting vaccinated, staying at home, isolating from others if the symptoms are noticed in person, following hygiene practices like frequently disinfecting or cleaning most touched areas like faucet handles, mobiles, door knobs etc., to prevent a person from getting infected and infecting other people (4).

The effectiveness of community mask usage to prevent the transmission of respiratory diseases was unclear earlier to the coronavirus infection 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, since there was insufficient reliable evidence to support their efficiency or use. The scientific proof has grown during the epidemic and presently, convincing results shows that community mask use is an effective non pharmacological measure to stop the spread of this illness, particularly as source control to stop transmission from sick people but also as protection to lower users exposure to corona virus infection (1,2)

Methodology

        An exploratory research design was used for the study. Five constituent colleges of the Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology in Udaipur (Rajasthan) were selected as the study locale. Random sampling technique was used for the selection of sample.A total of 200 students (100-girls and 100-boys) had been selected from 5 colleges of MPUAT, Udaipur. A Self structured questionnaire was developed by the researcher considering the objectives of the present study and sample, in order to gather data from students.

Results and discussion

This section discussed student’s awareness regarding facemasks and Covid-19, as well as their level of comfort while donning them, preferred mask-wearing intervals and confidence in using them effectively to prevent Covid-19 infection.

Information about Students who tested Covid positive

 The data from table 1 shown that the majority of students from boys (53%) category have never tested covid positive, followed by 40% and 6% of respondents were tested positive once and twice respectively and 1% of student tested positive more than twice. While, majority of students from the girl’s category (79%) have never tested positive, whereas only 18% and 3% tested positive once and twice respectively. The results were found to be similar to study (3) in which it was reported that safety practices against covid-19 were greatly opted by females when compared with males. retrieved on 1^st July, 202