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Richard Nyamanhindi Correspondent
Weeks into the Covid-19 pandemic, the Zimbabwean population needs accurate information on the virus, but we are still struggling to get it right, especially on social media platforms.
The way officials, leaders, medical personnel and communicators talk with the public during this crisis matters because it could mean the difference between life and death.
Without looking at the various levels of communication, this piece is a simple attempt to provide guidance for effective local communication response to the novel coronavirus.
In the face of this global pandemic we need to work together, especially on the local level to save lives and build our communities’ resilience to cope. This pandemic will end, but it will be a hard road that we will travel.
Since the outbreak of the virus in December 2019 in Wuhan, China there has been a wide range of communication initiatives by both public and private organisations and to a greater extent by netizens who themselves have no clue about the disease. Effective communication on this pandemic needs to be thought through and has to be contextual.
Knowing and communicating the facts about coronavirus
Misinformation and rumour will certainly kill people, so it is imperative that whoever is communicating about the virus uses trusted sources for information and check and recheck new information. With today’s digital technology everyone can quickly search and find “relevant” information online. The challenge is ensuring that this is the correct information. There is a plethora of sources and voices online that can be bewildering — the reason why of late we have started having unconnected issues being shared as the causes of the virus — the 5G issue is a case in point. The key international sources of information on the pandemic is the World Health Organisation, and other UN agencies.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care is also a good online source for information and resources, although a recent visit to their website shows that more still needs to be done. By accessing these sources, as a complement to national information that is being produced by the Government, communicators are able to arm themselves with the facts. The facts are, however, not easy to understand — there is a complexity of medical information and an ever-changing situation as this new disease is gradually becoming more understood.
It is a very new disease, only arising in December 2019, and in the scramble to research vaccines and testing there is a situation of rapid learning and tension in the medical realm.
Such medical challenges mean policymakers have been struggling to make important decisions — about issues such as when to bring in a “lockdown”, when to relax certain restrictions and how quickly to respond to difficult elements of the pandemic.
For ordinary people this sense of the unknown is also alarming and contributes to fear and panic and in some cases to relaxing with regards to the precautions that needs to be taken.
In this context effective communication is needed to clearly and calmly present the facts and to allay people’s fears as much as possible.
The pandemic’s timeline and communication phases
Everyone around the world is part of this situation and we all need good communication about what the disease is and how it will progress. Communicating about how it will end and how our communities will overcome it is essential for morale.
The scientists’ epidemiology knowledge about how pandemics work, plus the progression of coronavirus from its rise in China to its flourishing in South Korea, Italy, Spain, UK and US and moving forward to all continents — is showing that it has a lifespan and timeline.
Effective communication needs to track this timeline in each country; from the stage of awaiting and preparation to the stage of the disease starting, then its surge with massive numbers of infections and death rates, and then its decline and finally its end require different forms of communication.
No one yet knows the full details of this timing, but communicators need to know which type of information and how it is to be packaged for what stage.
Zimbabwe seems to have already passed the stage of awaiting as we have already had 11 cases confirmed and three deaths. The question is whether the citizens were adequately prepared for the pandemic or it was mainly framed by communicators during this stage as a disease affecting China and the West.
There were myths that were peddled (of course on social media and by people without knowledge of the disease) during this period that the disease did not affect Africans. This was a crucial stage for effective communication in that early preventative awareness-raising such as social distancing becomes critical in “flattening the curve” of infection.
The second stage is that of an increase in infection which we are currently in as a country. This is when a small, but growing number of infections and some deaths occur. The communication challenge in this stage is to engage people to take the situation seriously enough to participate in national mitigating protective measures like the current “lockdown,” when ordinary life is put on pause as the majority stay at home.
For countries such as Italy and the US which have acted too slowly communicating the second stage, the impact has been severe. As we have already seen in Zimbabwe and other countries in the region there is a combination of fear and disregard of the consequence of the virus and a lot of misinformation.
During this stage there is need for good and authorised communicators to increase public awareness and for mobilising around a collective message to act quickly and encourage people to stay indoors. The third stage is when we have a surge in the spread of the disease, which is the worst nightmare for any country. This is a time when everyone is impacted and usually there is a lot of panicking.
This is a very difficult stage to communicate as the majority lose hope.
The choice of communication channels at this stage becomes very important as it becomes a time of extreme social distancing, lockdown and crisis in delivering healthcare to a surging number of critically ill people. Radio and social media channels become extremely important.
In the last stage of decline, infection rates start to slow as is the current case in China. In this phase communication that reminds people of the need to stay vigilant in being safe is very important because a slacking off of social distancing could have the reverse effect of extending the pandemic in some places.
Key communication messaging
In developing key messages around prevention and protection against coronavirus it is important to balance local contextual understanding with the core health promotion contents.
The pandemic presents with a common set of health realities — we are all facing the same pandemic, so there are a set of common messages at the core of what needs to be communicated.
This common base makes sharing and accessing relevant resources and materials more applicable than is normally the case, however, it is still important that every message is contextually appropriate. The key messages that every community anywhere in Zimbabwe needs to receive are about prevention and protection.
Prevention includes messages about understanding the disease, in order to be able to then behave appropriately in the context of the disease — for instance how to capture a cough in a sleeve, and why to self-isolate if showing symptoms.
Handwashing messaging and information about changing norms such as handshaking, attending funerals, weddings or collective worship are central messages that needs to be developed.
Social distancing is the core concept here and the challenge is how to sustain people’s engagement. After almost two weeks of “lockdown” it seems Zimbabweans already need impactful communication to keep up their commitment to this essential strategy.
Communication routes, channels and methods
When considering what are the most appropriate channels and routes to use for communication during these difficult times it is important to note that it is not “business as usual” and many of the usual channels are very limited in their reach.
Social media in particular becomes a channel of choice, but so is radio.
During this time there is an urgent need to protect and provide resources to community mediums because these present a powerful route for community connection — for sharing vital health information, as well as updating people about the situation, and then building social connection and mutual aid.
In the preparation and early phases of the pandemic in some countries the arts and culture sector has been effectively used for communication.
The Government has also been providing public service announcements via television, radio and print media and other in public spaces — this needs to continue throughout the pandemic timeline though always taking cognisance of the stage we are in of the disease.
There is an opportunity in our scenario for non-professional communicators to be more active and more heard. Music and audio such as podcasting are powerful routes that can be used as these can be produced from home — but being factual in the communication is imperative.
Three main things need to be done at this stage by communicators:
(a) to communicate well about what coronavirus is and how everybody needs to take precautions not to contract the disease — this is public heath communication;
(b) here is need to communicate to help people to rapidly adapt to new ways of behaving in the context of the pandemic; specifically, through social distancing, and self-isolation — this is social and behaviour change communication;
(c) there is need to be communicating to help people to look after each other, supporting those who are in need and acting together safely for the good of the community – this is community mobilising communication and,
(d) there is need to be helping any form of media to be more informed and accurate in the context of coronavirus, because the media (both traditional and social) are a powerful communication route; and essential for countering misinformation and for lessening fear — this is media development.
So being well informed about these approaches is really important as it will aid our effectiveness as a country to respond to this pandemic.
Online Reporter