INFORMATION dissemination in times of Covid-19 pandemic is a primordial importance in our community. People rely solely in information to know and understand the situation we are in.
The accurate communication of science-based information is an effective way to reduce public panic concerning Covid-19, and in so doing, providing real-time guidance to healthcare workers who are painstakingly taking care of infected patients, containing the outbreak, and helping to understand future developments and the possible effectiveness of various interventions.
We aimed at applying reliable methods to obtain more information about Covid-19, such as transparent identification of cases, data sharing, recent research and so much more. Although the fact remains that it may be difficult to prevent the virus spread, effectively sharing reliable scientific information might serve as the most effective prevention against the public panic about Covid-19. With the better control of Covid-19 (e.g. less individuals were being infected), more attention will then be given to the citizens who were told to undergo quarantine.
Here in Cagayan de Oro City, there are City Ordinances, Executive Orders and regulations anchored from the national Executive Orders and IATF executive order guidelines. They are all synchronized. The mayor, together with the Department of Health, police, and IATF regional representatives are doing daily briefing to inform the general public of updates. What is lacking in this situation?
In far-flung barangays, for instance, our fellow Kagay-anons also requires information to better understand what is happening in our society and grasp the rationale of all policies implemented by the national and local government. According to some Kagay-anons who I interviewed online, even their barangays officials are having a hard time disseminating and explaining to their constituents the gravity of this pandemic and the updates on policies. Maybe, there is a need to simplify the message our officials are trying to convey for immediate consumption of the general public. In addition, we have to employ non-tradition medium of communication for effective dissemination to barangays in order to have a synchronous information and do away with misinformation.
We have enough qualified educators who are experienced and can deal with this kind of situation. Maybe our LGUs can select qualified persons from this sector to be trained and to be our spokesperson in their own barangays. We have to think and act fast because we cannot assume that all our fellow Kagay-anons have access to the social media and television. We have to be aggressive in information dissemination in our city because there are a lot of fake news proliferating in social media. We have to act fast now to avoid panic from our fellow Kagay-anons.
Let us all communicate information in order to improve situational awareness and dispel rumors. Let us be one in giving correct information, positive discourse, and updated data in any platforms of information dissemination.