Abstract: Objective To understand the public protection awareness and behavior of COVID-19. Methods The self-designed questionnaire was used to investigate the population aged 15 and above who came, returned or lived in Jiangsu Province from February 15 to February 22, 2020 via the method of convenient sampling. Descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted on the protection status of COVID-19, and the influencing factors of the total score were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis. Results A total of 27 410 participants were included in the protection survey. Among the respondents, men accounted for 59.50%, with the most people aged 31-40 years （38.83%）, and 67.19% of them had a total protection score above 90 points. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that women （OR=1.201）, those aged 21-30 years, 31-40 years, 41-50 years （OR=1.302, 1.649, 1.375）, those with an educational level of “high school or secondary specialized school”, “college degree or above” （OR=1.494, 2.526）, those with occupations of “government agency and institution, medical practitioners, enterprises, and students” （OR=1.475, 2.252, 1.205, 1.442）, and those living in urban areas （OR=1.152） were more inclined to get a total protection score above 90 points （P<0.05）; while those aged 15-20 years （OR=0.573） were less inclined to get that scores （P<0.05）. Conclusion A relatively high proportion of respondents have mastered the protection knowledge and skills of COVID-19. However, the results indicate that it is necessary to strengthen the publicity and education of daily protection knowledge of COVID-19, enhance daily protection awareness, and improve public health literacy, especially men, individuals under 20 and over 51 years old, individuals with low educational levels, individuals engaged in business/service industry, and individuals living in rural areas.

Key words: COVID-19, Protection, Awareness, Behavior