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Article Summary
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the initial understanding of the US public on the Covid-19 virus and act as a source of information to provide guidelines by the public health department. The research assessed the knowledge level about the virus among US households and how it features among vulnerable populations. A combination of descriptive and correlational research designs was employed to describe the extent to which people are informed about the pandemic and the relationship between the level of information and the vulnerability aspect of the respondents respectively. The probability sampling technique was used to carry out a survey between 28th February to 2nd March 2020.
Results indicated that the level of information about Covid-19 disease and virus among the US public is relatively low at the outbreak but increases gradually with time. The knowledge level is especially low among the vulnerable groups such as the uneducated, low-income earners, unemployed, and level of exposure to information regarding the virus. Therefore, the researcher recommended that widespread civic education to inform people about the virus and public health recommendations is required, especially for the vulnerable groups. Also, complex terms and recommendations should be broken down into simple language that can be easily understood due to the low health literacy levels associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Article Strengths
The article’s introduction is strong because it starts with background information about the virus and develops gradually to cover various statistical data on the information dissemination regarding the virus. Although the article does not have a specific research question, the last part of the introduction clearly establishes the subject of assessment. With the sudden emergence of Covid-19 disease and its devastating mode of transmission from one person to another, the vital role lies with the public if at all it will be controlled. Therefore, gathering information about the extent of understanding the public possesses regarding the disease and virus covers a pertinent aspect towards the creation of public awareness on the public health recommended guidelines as it shows who and where content is required.
The sampling design strength lies in the probability sampling of the 55,000 members obtained from an address-based panel. The sample included individuals from varying economic, social, cultural, religious, and racial groups which makes it the true representative of the general population. The use of English to carry out the survey is also a strength as it is presumed that people living in the US are conversant with the language, hence strengthens the validity and reliability of the research instrument.
The results section is well presented with tables and graphs to show a summary of the study results. The researcher also draws a discussion of the findings to highlight the key aspects observed during the study. Recommendations are well presented in the conclusion section. Therefore, the study has strong implications for the public health field because it points out the best ways to construct messages, the focus of public health communications and education, and the constant monitoring of changes.

Article Weaknesses
One of the weaknesses of the study is the lack of explicit research questions where the researcher replaces them with statements under assessments. The combination of the two study designs is enough to gather the required data. However, the researcher did not describe the study design and left the reader to determine the design employed.
The results are summarized in a clear manner with well-organized tables and graphs. However, highlighting of results has not been done which could have made perusing through the paper easier and quicker. Various limitations were identified such as the low completion rate and very few respondents from the Hispanic race due to the language barrier. The recommendations are well crafted and within the findings of the results.