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Communicating COVID-19 Uncertainty: Lessons from the Past

Received: 15 December 2020     Accepted: 29 December 2020     Published: 26 April 2021
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Abstract

This article examines the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the era of the risk society. It employs literature-based analysis and study of legal sources. The first part of the article presents the crucial role of communicating information during a pandemic and the role of WHO in the area of infectious diseases. Confidence, public trust, and public involvement are according to Urlich Beck critical for the acceptance of risk related policies. This article, through the paradigm of a pandemic of the past, (the case of the bubonic plague in Ionian islands), argues how crucial is the communication of the uncertainties, the involvement of the public and the information networks. Furthermore, it supports that during the covid-19 crisis, health risk communication and management of the crisis were not sufficient. Some of the reasons were: the unclearance of the message transmitted, limited public and community participation in the decision making process and in shaping the health policy, crisis of public confidence, inadequacy of implemented policies, e.t.c. It concludes that collective and just solution, harmonized global action, access to information, international solidarity, and the involvement of the locals are of paramount importance.

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 9, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijla.20210902.16
Page(s) 94-100
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Pandemic, Collective Responsibility, Public Participation, WHO, Risk-society, Information, Corona Virus, Global Politics

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Chrysoula Kapartziani. (2021). Communicating COVID-19 Uncertainty: Lessons from the Past. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 9(2), 94-100. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210902.16

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    ACS Style

    Chrysoula Kapartziani. Communicating COVID-19 Uncertainty: Lessons from the Past. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2021, 9(2), 94-100. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210902.16

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    AMA Style

    Chrysoula Kapartziani. Communicating COVID-19 Uncertainty: Lessons from the Past. Int J Lit Arts. 2021;9(2):94-100. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210902.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijla.20210902.16,
      author = {Chrysoula Kapartziani},
      title = {Communicating COVID-19 Uncertainty: Lessons from the Past},
      journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
      volume = {9},
      number = {2},
      pages = {94-100},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20210902.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210902.16},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20210902.16},
      abstract = {This article examines the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the era of the risk society. It employs literature-based analysis and study of legal sources. The first part of the article presents the crucial role of communicating information during a pandemic and the role of WHO in the area of infectious diseases. Confidence, public trust, and public involvement are according to Urlich Beck critical for the acceptance of risk related policies. This article, through the paradigm of a pandemic of the past, (the case of the bubonic plague in Ionian islands), argues how crucial is the communication of the uncertainties, the involvement of the public and the information networks. Furthermore, it supports that during the covid-19 crisis, health risk communication and management of the crisis were not sufficient. Some of the reasons were: the unclearance of the message transmitted, limited public and community participation in the decision making process and in shaping the health policy, crisis of public confidence, inadequacy of implemented policies, e.t.c. It concludes that collective and just solution, harmonized global action, access to information, international solidarity, and the involvement of the locals are of paramount importance.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
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    AB  - This article examines the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the era of the risk society. It employs literature-based analysis and study of legal sources. The first part of the article presents the crucial role of communicating information during a pandemic and the role of WHO in the area of infectious diseases. Confidence, public trust, and public involvement are according to Urlich Beck critical for the acceptance of risk related policies. This article, through the paradigm of a pandemic of the past, (the case of the bubonic plague in Ionian islands), argues how crucial is the communication of the uncertainties, the involvement of the public and the information networks. Furthermore, it supports that during the covid-19 crisis, health risk communication and management of the crisis were not sufficient. Some of the reasons were: the unclearance of the message transmitted, limited public and community participation in the decision making process and in shaping the health policy, crisis of public confidence, inadequacy of implemented policies, e.t.c. It concludes that collective and just solution, harmonized global action, access to information, international solidarity, and the involvement of the locals are of paramount importance.
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Author Information
  • Department of Law, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

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