Govt should review Covid fight message

The situation in the country in regard to Covid-19 is not good. Although there were rising cases of Covid-19 initially, we were able to know where they were coming from.
Today, the situation is different. Cases are popping up in districts such as Wakiso.
Many people are visiting clinics or nearby health centres feeling very sick. Sadly, by the time they are referred to public or private hospitals that have been designated to handle Covid-19 cases, they are in worse state, with some dying in the end.

By yesterday, the number of people who have died due to Covid-19 stood at 13, with the highest number of confirmed positive cases in a single day standing at 66.Overall, Uganda’s confirmed cases of Covid-19 is 1,500.

The trouble is, there had been laxity in adhering to the Covid-19 directives among members of the public. People no longer observe standard operating procedures (SOPs) such as washing hands, wearing masks and keeping social distancing.

To ensure that people adhere to the SOPs, the Ministry of Health needs to design a different publicity package. The videos, posters and interviews that were done earlier and shared across many platforms no longer have the impact they did.

In the early days of coronavirus outbreak, people would wait eagerly to hear the updates the Covid-19 pandemic.

Today, many people are lukewarm. This is proof that there is need to change/review the messages and their packaging.

Last week, the Health ministry issued a video of a Ugandan woman, Dr Phionah Atuhebwe, who works with the World Health Organisation that made rounds on social media. Dr Atuhebwe spoke of what she had gone through since she tested positive for Covid-19.

The video seemed to invoke some reflections among people. This is where the ministry can start from. They need to get recovered patients to share their story of agony and experience after they tested positive for the virus. They should get stories from people who have lost loved ones to the disease to reawaken people.

We started this fight well. We should not end it badly. Even though the situation is not good, there is still time to redeem ourselves. This means that the ministry should act now.

It is also important government should give accountability of all the money it has received to fight coronavirus.

Without transparency on how government used the Covid money, people will be tempted to believe that the Covid-19 pandemic may not be real. The government must come clean on this matter.