Assessing the Levels of COVID-19 Literacy Among University Students Muhammad Asif Naveed 1 and Rozeen Shaukat 2 Abstract Purpose: This study assessed the levels of COVID-19 literacy among university students in Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional survey method was adopted using an online questionnaire for data collection. A total of 371 received questionnaires were analyzed by calculating the means, standard deviations, Pearson correlations, and t-test. Research limitation(s): The results should be generalized with caution as study is not the representative of the whole university students’ community in Pakistan. Key finding(s): A large majority (83.3%) of students had COVID-19 literacy at a sub-optimal level as more than half of the sample exhibited literacy at moderate levels, followed by those having low levels. There was a statistically significant relationship of COVID-19 literacy with the geographical background, which meant that the urban student had higher literacy as compared to rural students. Practical implication(s): These findings had serious implications for public health in Pakistan calling for an improvement in health education. The university and library administration should develop a need-based mechanism to improve health literacy of students as they act as an agent of information delivery for those around them. Contribution to knowledge: It would be a worthy contribution to the existing literature on health literacy in general and COVID-19 literacy in particular as limited research has been conducted so far. Paper type: Research. Keyword(s): COVID-19 pandemic; Health literacy; COVID-19 literacy; University libraries; Pakistan. Introduction The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected more than 18.5 million people along with about .70 million deaths globally (World Health Organization, 2020; Worldometer, 2020) since its emergence and recognition as a global pandemic (Cucinotta & Vanelli, 2020; LloydSherlock et al., 2020; Mahase, 2020; Watkins, 2020). It is caused by SARS-COV-2, in Wuhan, (Khan, Kazmi, Bashir, & Siddique, 2020; Li, Lu, & Zhang, 2020; Phan, 2020). This infection not only wreaked havoc, dismantled everyday life, and, caused panic, and over-burdened the health care systems of the world (Bao, Sun, Meng, Shi & Lu, 2020; Xu, Li, Tian, Li & Kong, 2020) but also exposed the ill-preparedness of governments and health care systems of the world (Duan, Wang &Yang, 2020; Nguyen, et al., 2020a; Nguyen, et al., 2020b; Rosenbaum, 2020). The rapid spread of COVID-19 infection called for peoples’ ability to utilize credible health information at a faster pace to respond to the emerging health needs in the pandemic scenario (Nguyen, et al., 2020a; Nguyen, et al., 2020b Paakkari, & Okan, 2020; Zarocostas, 2020). The pandemic situation required individuals’ preparedness besides systems preparedness to respond proactively so that they may make informed decisions and adopt health-protective behaviours (Paakkari, & Okan, 2020; Zarocostas, 2020). Knowledge of the risky factors of infectious diseases is and has always been critical not only to control infection but also to avoid the devastating effects of pandemics (Abel & Mcqueen, 2020; Parikh, et al., 2020). Therefore, health personnel aimed to educate people about the COVID-19, the ways to avoid getting and spreading the infection, practical solutions (e.g. washing hands, wearing masks, social distancing, etc.), and where to find credible health advisory (Paakkari, & Okan, 2020; Prem, et al., 2020). Unfortunately, the abundance of conspirative information spreading faster than coronavirus itself over social media platforms and other outlets put public health at a severe risk (DeLuca, 2020; (Naeem, Bhatti & Khan, 2020; Zarocostas, 2020). The Director-General of the World Health Organization stated, during an address at the Munich Security Conference on the 15th of February 2020, “we’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re 1 University of Sargodha, Pakistan. Email: masifnaveed@yahoo.com 2 University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan. Email: rozeen.shaukat@umt.edu.pk