Plans risk communication approach to fight apathy
Oyo State government yesterday said it had commenced community reporting that would consolidate on its self-policing strategy of containing the spread of COVID-19 by adopting naming-and-shaming strategy through the use of Geographical Information System (GIS).
The Chairperson, Oyo State COVID-19 Decontamination and Containment Committee, Prof. Olanike Adeyemo, disclosed this at the containment stakeholders’ town hall meeting held at the Western Hall, Agodi Secretariat, Ibadan.
The strategy, the government said, would entail publicly naming corporate organisations, events, gatherings or individuals conducting themselves in violation of the stipulated protocols and guidelines of COVID-19.
Adeyemo, who stated the rationale behind the ‘shame-and-name’ strategy, said that keeping the identity of defaulters of COVID-19 protocols had led to widespread of the virus in the community.
She also at the event said that a mobile app named “citizens compliance reporter platform” had been launched for citizens to send pictures and videos of defaulters of the novel coronavirus.
“I want to say that it is not to witch-hunt. When you also see people who are doing the right thing, you should also report so that we can also commend them to say they are doing well and where they are not doing well, we will be able to say so with evidence to make sanctions,” Adeyemo said.
She condemned corporate organisations, which on one hand support government with funds while on the other hand contribute to the spread of the virus in their business conduct.
In a related vein, the state government said it had perfected what he called risk communication approach to fight people’s apathy to the danger inherent in getting infected with coronavirus.
The state’s Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr. Wasiu Olatubosun, said the approach would consider communicating major consequences of not following COVID-19 safety protocols, which he said, would entail the use of visuals, voices and graphics to showcase testimonial cases of people that earlier showed apathy and later contracted the disease.
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