INTRODUCTION
CORONAVIRUS, DISEASE
Zambia, a lower-middle income country in sub-Saharan Africa, with a population of approximately 18 million people, has been affected by the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19).It is now known that large crowds, particularly indoors with poor ventilation and without face coverings (masks), drive rapid transmission.In March 2020, in addition to other lockdown measures, the Zambian Ministry of Health (MoH) issued guidelines for multiple non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to slow the transmission of COVID-19, including requiring face masks and social distancing of at least 1 m in public settings and the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers or handwashing with soap and water.Although the personal and social benefits of following NPI guidelines for containing the spread of COVID-19 have been demonstrated,Applying the IMB Model to behaviors associated with COVID-19 transmission prevention, we assessed the knowledge, motivations, skills, and perceived community-level adherence to MoH guidelines in rural Zambian communities using qualitative data collected in late 2020 and mid-2021.