# 8471
While we’ve a (possibly brief) lull in new MERS reports out of the Middle East one of the fascinating sideshows to the past 72 hours has been watching the attempts to control the MERS message in newspapers, on twitter, and in other social media outlets.
On Saturday, in MERS-CoV: The Twitter Of Their Discontent, I described what appeared to be orchestrated `shout downs’ of MERS rumors, where scores of twitter accounts would tweet word-for-word denials almost simultaneously.
For several hours yesterday Arabic language tweets containing the word كورونا (`SK’ or `Corona’) – for reasons I cannot explain - all but disappeared from twitter. Sharon Sanders captured some of this bizarre behavior and posted it on FluTrackers. Tweets eventually resumed, albeit `delayed’ by several minutes at first, but appear to be back to normal today.
While it carries the government’s statements regarding the MERS virus (at times ad nauseum), twitter is also rife with dubious advice concerning natural cures for, or preventatives against, the MERS virus, unsubstantiated citizen reports of suspected cases being treated in hospitals in the region, `false’ information regarding school closings or other government announcements, and no small amount of criticism of the Ministries of Health, Education, and Agriculture.
All of which makes it very difficult for the reassuring official government stance to be heard . . . or believed. The following tweet pretty much captures the prevailing sentiment online.
Although the Ministry of Education has repeatedly assured that the schools are `free of corona’, many parents have apparently kept their children out of class the past couple of days. This morning, the following announcement authorizing individual schools to decide when, or if, to curtail public gatherings and assemblies is getting a lot of play of twitter.
"Education": for school administrators the power to cancel the morning assembly to prevent the spread of "Corona"
News 24 04/14/2014
Awarded the Ministry of Education, school principals the power to cancel all forms of student groups within schools, so as to avoid the crowds as one of the factors of the spread of the virus, "Corona."
The official spokesman of the ministry, Usaimi Mubarak, according to the "Okaz", that these powers include the queue until the morning and collective activities quarterly.
For its part, said director of one of the girls' schools in Jeddah, said that in connection with the instruction and the reduction of the crowds and gatherings, indicating that they stopped the queue morning as a precautionary measure, and that the students were given sufficient guidance about the disease and its transmission and how to prevent it.
In the same context, said a number of parents of the students, they involuntarily daughters from school out of fear of injury, while others felt it is better to suspend the study until they are safely skip this stage.
The message appearing across the Arabic press this morning from the Saudi MOH seeks to assure that the virus is not easily passed from one person to the next.
Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health Assistant for preventive health, Dr Abdullah al-Asiri, the Scientific Committee of Infectious Diseases confirmed that the virus "Corona" does not move easily between humans, but does not move as associating directly with pneumonic.
He denied Dr. Asiri that there is a relationship between the change in the atmosphere in the Kingdom and to increase the number of HIV infection, indicating that it did not close any hospital in Jeddah due to a virus Corona, but there has been a focal point for directing some cases to other hospitals to give the opportunity to clean-up operations overall emergency teams in Hospital King Fahd.
He pointed out that the development of a vaccine for the virus, "Corona" is difficult in terms of technology, despite ongoing attempts in this regard, so the current efforts are focused on prevention and assessment of therapeutic approaches available, while continuing research to develop a vaccine for humans and animals.
Meanwhile, in the UAE where on Friday the Ministry Of Interior Announced 6 MERS-CoV Cases (1 Fatality), their MOH is doing all that it can to downplay the situation. This from Al Bayan news.
Corona virus is not a concern
Source: Abu Dhabi - Lubna Anwar, WAMDate: April 14, 2014
The Ministry of Health to the World Health Organization confirmed that the virus, corona virus that causes AIDS Middle East respiratory, not a concern for public health at the moment, and it does not require any action to ban travel to any country in the world, and does not require tests early in the ports of entry, and do not impose any restrictions on trade.
For its part, assured the Health Authority Abu Dhabi audience of citizens and residents in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi on the general situation of the disease. The Commission called on everyone to exercise their daily lives as normal, and not to pay attention to rumors or passed on, and return to reliable official sources for information on the disease.
She stressed that the current situation is not a cause for concern, and that the Commission, in coordination with the Ministry of Health and health authorities and stakeholders in the state, has taken the precautionary measures necessary necessary, in accordance with the recommendations of the scientific and conditions and criteria adopted by the World Health Organization, including the testing necessary for all close contacts of the patients, according to global recommendations in this regard approaches available, while continuing research to develop a vaccine for humans and animals.
While these and other official statements continue to get wide replay across twitter and the Arabic press, they continue to be met with considerable skepticism.
Overreaching assurances, such as the one issued above by the UAE, often have the opposite effect on the public, who would much rather have a realistic appraisal of the risks.
A risk communications lesson that needs to be taken to heart if governments hope to remain relevant and credible in this age of global twitter communications and online media.
