Is COVID-19 real?

While Uganda did not report any COVID-19 deaths until July, the country has in the last two weeks registered seven deaths, most of them in the Kampala Metropolitan area. This may be nothing compared to neighbouring Kenya whose daily numbers now top one thousand but it certainly marks a downward trend in the containment of the pandemic.

A walk around Kira Town-Council, a suburb of Kampala, suggests that the behaviour of ordinary Ugandans, in relation to protecting themselves against the COVID-19 infection will take everyone's co-operation to change.

"The problem is no longer awareness; it is compliance," says Minister of Information, Judith Nabakooba.

Other reasons for this apparent complacency, according to the minister include the economic stress of the prolonged lockdown, the onset of political campaigns, and some political leaders contravening the guidelines they have set in their interactions with their constituents.

Dr. Goreeka Okahaabwa, a psychologist, says people change health behaviour based on their perception of risk. This seems like the most obvious reason for the majority of Ugandans' complacency about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Andrew Bakainaga, a World Health Organisation advisor based in Kampala says risk-perception in the general public was high at the onset of the epidemic, but that changed as the new cases remained relatively low, and mostly mild.

"We are really struggling with getting the general public to understand and perceive the pandemic," Bakainaga says.

One of the weak links in the response to the pandemic, Bakainaga observes, has been Risk Communication.

"From feedback, our messages are not very convincing. Doctors and medical people's perception is that what you know is what others know and that is a weakness. When we are communicating we do not come from the position that this person needs to be convinced," he notes.

The public's perception, however, is that the COVID-19 task-force has received significant financial resources. Some members of the task-force and of the public say communication has not been adequately prioritised. The roles of the different Ministries have also not been clearly defined, resulting in scanty, miscoordinated and less than apt messages. Nabakooba recommends better coordination, thorough audience analysis, and working more closely with local community structures.

Marjorie Niyitegeka, a Makerere University Communication Lecturer, recommends that the communication campaign at this stage needs refreshing with theory and research.

The next six months outlook, according to Bakainaga, is disturbing and the public will need to cooperate in complying with the guidelines to observe hand hygiene, wearing masks, social distancing and as much as possible limiting face-to-face contact to immediate family.

"We have not hit the second phase as Uganda and therefore our risk with this non-adherence is that if we get the second wave, we will be overwhelmed like our neighbour Kenya. Right now, their hospitals are full," he says.

On its part, government has reinforced all the regional referral hospitals in preparation for the expected surge in cases.

"In terms of case management, we are training all care givers at major referral points so that they are adequately equipped and numbers are heightened to address the expected high numbers if it happens," Bakainaga says.

The writer is the Dean, Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication, Uganda Christian University