We are currently living through an extraordinary moment in history. And while we have already looked at the use of mobile communication to manage emergencies in different sectors. It is also worth focusing on the bigger picture. What role is communication playing in helping governments combat the spread of Covid-19?
To get some answers, just look at the countries that have. Already seen bulk email marketing services a decrease in the contagion curve and where it. Seems that we are already approaching the end of the crisis. How have they used the communication tools at their disposal to manage emergencies and what can we learn from them?
Sharing information between government departments and between central and local governments
According to Time Magazine, “there are almost daily meetings between regional health service directors. Hospital directors and the health minister” in Singapore. One of the nations that has managed to halt the virus’s advance most rapidly.
How they managed to reunite at a time when social distancing is necessary is not fully documentd. It is likely that they used remote meeting tools such as Zoom or Google Hangouts or other messaging apps.
The result of this information sharing is: better management of resources. Identification and mitigation of risks and the ability to provide more information to the public, thus fighting disinformation and fake news.
An invitation to a Whatsapp group can be sent by EMAIL or SMS in bulk to save time inviting each member. Just create the group, then from “Group Info” select “Invite to group via link” to generate a link that can be shared via email or SMS to participants”
The first step in managing emergencies: communicating risk promptly, accurately and transparently
To block the spread of fake news, it is important that governments open up to communication, in order to build a relationship of trust and transparency with the public.
In a historical moment in which news spreads incredibly quickly via social networks, it is very important to keep under control what the World Health Organization has defined as an “infodemic” (source: United Nations ).
Distinguishing a real fact from a fabricated one is very difficult for people. Governments have the task of leading us out of this labyrinth by offering clear, concrete and frequent reports.
Kim Gang, South Korea’s Vice Minister of Health, said, “The more we when the entrepreneur puts work to disseminate information quickly and transparently, the more people will trust the government…they will act rationally for the good of the whole community” (Source: South China Morning Post ).
A practical example of this approach comes from South Korea, where the government has developed apps that show where clusters of infections are located and send SMS alerts to anyone with a mobile phone about areas affected by the infection, so they can avoid them (source: Al Jazeera ).
This approach has not been without criticism – the messages job data have been described as “scarier than coronavirus” by one recipient (source: The Guardian ), but they are helping to reduce cases. People who realise they have inadvertently been exposed to the virus are immediately tested.