Abstract
Risk communication is critical to emergency management. The objective of this paper is to illustrate the effective process and attention points of risk communication reflecting on the COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) outbreak in Wuhan, China. We provide the timeline of risk communication progress in Wuhan and use a message-centered approach to identify problems that it entailed. It was found that the delayed decision making of the local government officials and the limited information disclosure should be mainly responsible for the ineffective risk communication. The principles for effective risk communication concerning Wuhan’s outbreak management were also discussed. The whole communication process is suggested to integrate the accessibility and openness of risk information, the timing and frequency of communication, and the strategies dealing with uncertainties. Based on these principles and lessons from Wuhan’s case, this paper employed a simplified Government–Expert–Public risk communication model to illustrate a collaborative network for effective risk communication.
Highlights
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19; previous official name issued by the World Health Organization is 2019-nCoV, its zoonotic origin is SARS-CoV-2, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2)occurred in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and January 2020 [1]
With respect to risk communication for public health emergencies, we reviewed the dynamic process of risk communication of the outbreak management of COVID-19 and used
This article focused on how ineffective risk communication impeded the emergency response in
Summary
Occurred in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and January 2020 [1] This is seen as the third significant outbreak of a coronavirus, following China’s SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) that emerged in 2003 and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) originating in 2012 [1]. Since 12 December 2019, when the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission reported 27 cases of viral pneumonia, including seven critically ill cases, the pneumonia outbreak has received considerable global attention. The available investigations indicate that the virus has the characteristic of human-to-human transmission and is even infectious during incubation. These infections may either be asymptomatic or have symptoms that include fever, cough, and shortness of breath [21,22]. There is no complete knowledge on this virus, and epidemiological investigation in ongoing
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