Application of Social Media in the Fight Against Covid-19 in Nigeria

Application of Social Media in the Fight Against Covid-19 in Nigeria

CHAPTER ONE

Objective of the study

The main objective of the study is to investigates the Application of Social Media in the fight Against COVID-19 in Nigeria. Specifically, the study aims to:

Determine the extent to which Uyo residents depended on the social media for information during the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
Identify the most preferred social media for information during the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
Determine Uyo residents perception of the role of each social media in information dissemination during the covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

On December 31, 2019, the China Health Authority alerted the World Health Organization (WHO) to several cases of pneumonia of unknown aetiology in Wuhan City in Hubei Province in central China. The cases had been reported since December 8, 2019, and many patients worked at or lived around the local Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market although other early cases had no expo- sure to this market [Lu H, et’al 2020]. On January 7, a novel coronavirus, originally abbreviated as 2019-nCoV by WHO, was identiﬁed from the throat swab sample of a patient [Hui DS, et’al 2020]. This pathogen was later renamed as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by the Coronavirus Study Group [Gorbalenya AEA 2020] and the disease was named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by the WHO. As of January 30, 7736 conﬁrmed and 12,167 suspected cases had been reported in China and 82 conﬁrmed cases had been detected in 18 other coun- tries [Burki TK. 2020]. In the same day, WHO declared the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) [Burki TK. 2020]. According to the National Health Commission of China, the mor- tality rate among conﬁrmed cased in China was 2.1% as of February 4 [NHC, 20205] and the mortality rate was 0.2% among cases outside China [WHO, 2020]. Among patients admitted to hospitals, the mortality rate ranged between 11% and 15% [Zhao J,Hu Y,et al.2020]. COVID-19 is moderately infectious with a relatively high mortality rate, but the information available in public reports and published literature is rapidly increasing. The aim of this review is to summarize the current understanding of COVID-19 including causative agent, pathogenesis of the disease, diagnosis and treatment of the cases, as well as control and prevention strategies.

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Introduction

In this chapter, we would describe how the study was carried out.

Research design

It is a term used to describe a number of decisions which need to be taken regarding the collection of data before they are collected. (Nwana, 1981). It provides guidelines which direct the researcher towards solving the research problem and may vary depending on the nature of the problem being studied. According to Okaja ( 2003, p. 2),” research design means the structuring of investigation aimed at identifying variables and their relationship, it is used for the purpose of obtaining data to enable the investigator test hypothesis or answer research question by providing procedural outline for conducting research”. It is therefore, an outline or scheme that serves as a useful guide to the researcher in his efforts to generate data for his study. This study adopts the survey research design. According to Babbie (1990) cited in Akarika, Ukpe and Ikon (2019:58) survey is probably the best method available to the social scientist interested in collecting original data for describing a population too large to observe directly.

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

Introduction

This chapter presents the analysis of data derived through the questionnaire and key informant interview administered on the respondents in the study area. The analysis and interpretation were derived from the findings of the study. The data analysis depicts the simple frequency and percentage of the respondents as well as interpretation of the information gathered.

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATIONS

The major aim of this study was to evaluate The Application of Social Media in the fight Against COVID-19 in Nigeria during the covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria. The study found out that during health emergency situation like the covid-19 pandemic which was occasioned by anxiety, tension, fear and uncertainty, residents depended more on the media to obtain information that can help reduce tension and fear.

Based on the foregoing, the study recommends the following:

The mass media social media should be objective, fair, honest and devoid of bias during health emergencies like covid-19 pandemic since a lot of media audience rely on them for health updates.
Since the internet has altered information seeking behaviour of the audience in the 21st century, traditional media audience should upgrade to contemporary audience in order to access latest news on their social network platforms.

References

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