Campaign Plan on COVID-19 Pandemic: Social Distancing & The New Normal
- raisa naushin
- Jan 4, 2023
- 15 min read
Course Code: MSJ11401
Situation Analysis
Ariyan, a university student, called his friends on messenger. He stated that he is getting bored while sitting idle in his house in this pandemic. He convinced his friends and went out for a hangout. After a couple of days, Ariyan again started a group call with his friends. This time he told them that he is planning for a tour in Cox's Bazar. Few of his friends seemed convinced with his plan, while others did not agree to go with them. Despite being aware of the ongoing epidemic, Arian and a few of his friends went to Cox's Bazar for a vacation. Among his friends, one of them was an asymptomatic patient of coronavirus. As they traveled together, they did not maintain any safe distance. As a result, Ariyan got affected too. But before he felt any symptoms, he got back from the trip to his house, and eventually, his entire family got affected by the virus.
2.1 COVID 19
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus.
Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment. Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness.
The best way to prevent and slow down transmission is be well informed about the COVID-19 virus, the disease it causes and how it spreads. Protect yourself and others from infection by washing your hands or using an alcohol based rub frequently and not touching your face.
At this time, there are no specific vaccines or treatments for COVID-19. However, there are many ongoing clinical trials evaluating potential treatments. WHO will continue to provide updated information as soon as clinical findings become available.
COVID 19, a highly infectious disease caused by the coronavirus. This respiratory illness was first discovered in the city of Wuhan, China. On January 30, 2020, the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global health emergency. Within the span of a few months, the virus infected people from almost every country across the globe. In Bangladesh, the first case of a coronavirus patient was discovered on March 8, 2020[1].
2.2 The New Normal
A new normal is a state to which an economy, society, etc. settles following a crisis, when this differs from the situation that prevailed prior to the start of the crisis. The term has been used in relation to the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the aftermath of the 2008–2012 global recessions, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The term was used in 2005 by Peter M. Sandman and Jody Lanard in relation to methods of manipulation of attitudes of the public towards avian influenza. They explained that the initial, typically temporary, fearfulness of a novel risk such as a flu pandemic is something to be guided, that this initial period is a "teachable moment" and offers the opportunity of establishing a "new normal".
The term was used in the context of cautioning the belief of economists and policy makers that industrial economies would revert to their most recent means post the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
3. Defining the concept
Recently we heard the phrase "Embracing the new normal." As the spread of this virus is not going to stop anytime soon, that's why the new normal is the new way of living our lives. This asks us to maintain personal hygiene, taking care of our physical & mental health, being aware of fake news, and, most importantly, keep social distancing while going out. This shows us a way to lead somewhat of a "normal" life without risking your own or other people's lives. In Bangladesh, mostly young people are misusing the concept of the new normal. They are using this term as their escape plan. Many youngsters are going to too crowded public spaces, doing parties, doing hangouts, going on tours & vacations, without taking proper safety measures, or maintaining any safe distance. Many people are assuming that we have developed "herd immunity" against the virus already. But the epidemic is not over yet just because they are over it. The virus is still active and widely spreading. An analysis of the coronavirus patients by age demonstrated that 20 percent of the patients are in the age bracket of 21–30[2]
In this long period of pandemic and lockdown, the youngsters (i.e., university students, young jobholders) are not able to cope with the situation. These are the people who went out every day for classes and work. Due to COVID-19, they were unable to step out for a long time. Now, they tend to go out of their safe places for work, hangouts, etc. despite knowing the risks. People are attending parties during this situation. These unsafe outings can be harmful not only for the ones who are stepping out but also for their families and their communities.
Now, the question may arise that the numbers of cases are decreasing and the death rate, so why do we still have to maintain strict social distancing? The answer is, we never know when the second or third wave of this epidemic is going to hit. If the infection numbers go down, it is an initial success. However, if things go the other way, and the reproduction rate of the virus increases, this could indicate a second wave of infections. Let's take the Spanish flu (1918 to 1920) for example, which killed more than 50 million people worldwide. That pandemic ran in three waves. The second wave was much worse than the first and caused many more deaths. Between the individual phases, the virus mutated. And the same could happen with coronavirus[3].
World Health Organization officials also warned that Millions of people could die if the coronavirus pandemic sees a second wave of infections[4]. Hence everyone needs to be aware and prepared for what could come next. And to stop the spread of this virus, the best possible thing that we can do is raise awareness. We felt the importance of letting people know about the risk and consequences of their actions. And why it is so vital to maintaining social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus. We have chosen the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) as an appropriate place to execute our campaign because of our easy access.
4. Overall Objective
To create mass awareness on the importance of social distancing to fight COVID 19, specifically the second wave of the pandemic.
3.1 Specific Objective
· To create awareness among young generation, being exposed to the COVID 19 in the name of the New Normal to fight the pandemic,
· To help prepare the common people to address the adverse impact of second wave of COVID 19 pandemic apprehended by WHO and other public health experts.
5. Global Context
The outbreak of the COVID-19 began in Wuhan, China, in December. It has spread to almost every corner of the world. Millions of people around the world have been affected by it, while thousands of others have died. From China to Alaska, almost every country has multiple COVID-19 cases. 28 040 853 people have been infected & 906 092 people died according to the latest database of WHO[5].
If we look at our neighboring country India, they had one of the worst hits of COVID-19. India had crossed the 20-lakh mark on 7 August, 30-lakh on 23 August, and it went across 40-lakh on 5 September. The number of deceased crossed 75,000 on 9 September.
Figure 1: Seven day moving average of daily COVID-19 cases and deaths in India. Source: worldometers.info
In the USA, there were only a few dozen known cases in February. But the people were still refusing to wear masks and avoid public gatherings. People were even seen on the beaches though the beaches were closed due to pandemic. On 10 September, the total infected number crossed 63-lakh and the total number of deceased at least 19-lakh. The increase in the numbers shows us how refusing to wear masks and not avoiding public gatherings can be fatal.
Figure 2: Seven days of moving average of daily COVID-19 cases and deaths in the USA. Source: worldometers.info
While countries like the USA and India are still struggling to make people understand the necessity to wear masks and maintain social distancing, New Zealand established one of the most effective strategies for beating COVID-19. New Zealand's PM Jacinda Ardern's message against COVID-19 was, "we must go hard, and we must go early."[1] After that, the lockdown was swift and sturdy. They closed their borders for foreigners and sent people who came home to quarantine for 14 days. On the 10th day, they introduced international standard lockdown procedures. Where they only had their grocery stores, pharmacies, hospitals, and gas stations open. Vehicles were restricted, and social restrictions were limited to within households. These restrictions lasted over a month. The main reason for this lockdown's success was effective communication. Emergency messages were sent to the residents before the strict lockdown.
Figure 3: Emergency message sent by the New Zealand Government. Source: Google images.
This message worked well within the residents of New Zealand. That is one of the primary reasons for their less infected rate and death rate.
Figure 4: Seven day moving average of daily COVID-19 cases and deaths in New Zealand. Source: worldometers.info
There are almost 28 million infected around the world and over 91-lakh death cases of COVID-19. Both the infected rate and death rate are increasing day by day.
Figure 5: Total COVID-19 cases in the world. Source: worldometers.info
Figure 6: Total COVID-19 deaths in the world. Source: worldometers.info
6. The current situation of Bangladesh during COVID 19
According to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control, and Research, In Bangladesh, the first COVID 19 infected had been diagnosed on March 8, 2020[1]. First, three people, two males and a female were detected. Among these three people, one returned from Italy, who was the leading carrier of this novel coronavirus to Bangladesh. After this, gradually, the situation became worse. The rate of infection started to increase rapidly. According to IEDCR, the total number of COVID 19 infected is 334,762 till September 11, 2020. Total 4,668 people have died due to the novel coronavirus till September 11, 2020. The infection rate is 20% [7].
Figure 7: This graph demonstrates the total number of confirmed covid 19 cases and deaths from March 8th to September 7, 2020. Source: World Health Organization Covid 19 update.[9]
Figure 8: This graph demonstrates the daily increasing infection rate (8th March to 7th September, 2020). Source: World Health Organization Covid 19 update.[10]
This virus is extremely contagious. That is why maintaining social distance is necessary to prevent this virus from spreading. A survey conducted by IEDCR has shown that 1.8 million people are COVID 19 positive in Dhaka city [11]. Dhaka is a very densely populated area. That is why maintaining social distancing in Dhaka is extremely difficult. Many people do not support social distancing, and many are not even taking this seriously. Due to the lack of awareness of maintaining social distancing, people are getting affected by the virus more frequently.
Figure: These two pictures taken on May 19, 2020, it is clear that how hundreds of people are rashly leaving Dhaka to celebrate their eid vacation, utterly unaware of the epidemic, without maintaining social distancing while the COVID 19 infection rate was on the highest peak in Bangladesh.
(Source: United News Bangladesh)[12]
Another survey from IEDCR says that Maximum virus carriers are asymptomatic. As a result, it is impossible to assume who might be carrying the virus around. Dr. ANM Nuruzzaman, a physician and former director in the Directorate General of Health Service, in an interview session with Al Jazeera, said that "practicing social distancing in a country like Bangladesh is "next to impossible"[13]. Many people are still unaware of the importance of social distancing. But those who are aware,many of them are still not maintaining it properly.
7. Why this is a problem?
At the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in the country in late March, the government adopted restrictive measures - including the shutdown of all offices, suspension of vehicular movement, and closure of all educational institutions - and urged people to maintain social distance and avoid public gathering.
But as time went by, although the number of deaths and confirmed cases started to grow more, the restrictive measures were eased for different reasons. Regular activities were partially restored due to public demand and save the country from economic disaster.
Despite repeated requests of health experts to maintain social distancing, many people are paying no heed to the rule, putting themselves and others at risk of being infected with the virus. Even the spike in deaths and confirmed cases failed to deter the people. As people had to go out for work, for earning, for buying necessity and as Bangladesh is a densely populated country, it is not easy to maintain social distancing. That brings the risk to spread COVID-19 more and more.
It is now confirmed that our country is now facing a major economic crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The government had imposed lockdown in several places briefly, but it became evident that lockdowns are not sustainable for the time required to develop a vaccine. Also, lockdowns are not feasible for a country like Bangladesh if people cannot be provided with life's basic necessities. It has already brought the economy to an almost grinding halt, which caused significant damage to our economy, crippling the population's lives, from day labor to business enterprises across the country. The economy is now almost coming to a grinding halt with debilitating effects on all sectors of the economy, thus threatening millions of livelihoods in Bangladesh.
Figure 9: This graph demonstrates the economic impact of COVID-19. In this graph we can see that how the GDP is falling rapidly over this pandemic situation. Source: DATABD.CO[14]
Figure 10: This graph is demonstrating the number of workers at risk of losing a job in different sectors due to COVID 19. Source: DATABD.CO [15]
Nowadays, people are not maintaining social distance. As a result, the infection rate will be increased more, and this pandemic will last for a long time. The more pandemic will be continued, and the more economic situation will become worse. That is why, as a precaution of preventing the coronavirus, people must maintain the social distance.
8. Baseline research
Baseline research should be done before and during the campaign because this is the initial set of data that will refine the campaign planning process and future execution of the campaign. This research helps to provide up to date data, the prospective target audience, their behavior, and the factors which influence it so that the campaign can be done seamlessly. For our campaign, we also have conducted baseline research to understand the behavior of our audiences.
8.1 Objectives of Baseline Research:
· To find out our target audience group
· To understand how often and why the students are stepping outside their houses during this epidemic.
· To find out if they are maintaining social distancing while outside, their behavior & responses when they’re asked about the problem/issue.
8.2 Sampling Methods:
· Due to the current situation, all of us had to do everything from our houses. That’s why purposive method as sampling technique in both quantitative and qualitative research was the most convenient for us.
· We conducted a questioner survey on 62 male & female ULAB students through using Google forms.
· We have conducted 3 informative interviews with 4 people of our audience groups.( 1 male & 1 female student of ULAB, Owner of a restaurant in Dhanmondi & mother of a student. For the privacy of our participants, their names has not been revealed )
8.2.1 Sample Areas:
Campaign areas: As all of our academic activities are done online, that’s why we had to conduct the sampling through online platforms too. It was mostly done through various ULAB students’ messenger and Facebook groups, and the interviews were taken through phone calls.
Time: No specific time duration as everything was done online.
Duration: September 9-11, 2020.
8.2.2 Time Frame:
We needed a total of 6 days where we needed 1 day for the concept development, 3 days to reach out and interview our primary & secondary audience. While we were taking the primary and secondary audiences’ interview, the questionnaire survey was also going on for 3 days, and 1 more day to analyze the findings.
8.2.3 Survey Findings:
Importance of social distancing among students
In our survey questionnaire, we arranged a set of questions to analyze the student’s behavior and how much they are aware of their actions. After the survey, we realized that 95.2% of the participants think that social distancing is important even during this new normal. Besides that, 82.3% of them think that this epidemic is not over yet, but 17.7% of them doubt this. Therefore, although most of them think it’s important, there are still a percentage of students who doubt the virus's existence anymore.
Figure 11: Importance of social distancing among students.
Knowledge of the basic social distancing guidelines
According to the recent health guideline, it is essential to maintain at least 3 feet distance in public space. In the survey, 80.6% of the students got it right, and 16.1% answered 6 feet. And 87% of the participants are aware that not wearing a face mask in public is a civil offense, but 12% had no idea about this law. Overall, we can say that most of the students are aware of the fundamental rules and guidelines.
Figure 12: knowledge of the basic social distancing guidelines.
Why and how often the students are going out?
54.8% of the students are going out for personal work & 25.8% are going out for professional work. But 16.1 % of them are going out for recreation, vacations & hangouts. 45% do not go out unless there’s an emergency. However, 29% are going out almost every single day and 21% are going out 2-3 times a week.
Figure 13: Reasons why and how often the students are going out.
How many students are maintaining the distance when they're outside?
72.6% students try to maintain social distance as much as possible, 21% strictly maintains it but 6.5% does not maintain it. When it comes to greeting people, 87.1% just says hi and maintain a safe distance, but 9.7% are still shaking hands, and 1.6% is doing hugs.
Figure 14: This chart shows how many students are maintaining the distance when they're outside.
Behavior of the students when they are outside in a party or a public space
53.2% are not attending any gatherings but the other 46.8% have attended a gathering recently. In these hangouts/parties, 69% never shared food/cigarettes/drinks with other people. But, 24.2% sometimes did share food with others and 6.5% surely shared their food with others. Among them, 45.2% kept their face masks on the whole time, but 14.5% did not & 12.9% are not sure if they did.
Figure 15: These charts show the behavior of the students when they are outside in a party or a public space.
Therefore, after the survey analysis, we can say that although most of the students are aware of the importance of social distancing and they know the basic guidelines, but almost 50% of the students are still attending public gatherings and many of them are not maintaining the guidelines.
9. Audience Analysis
Audience analysis is the process which used to identify and understand the behavior/actions of our audience and the factors that influences the audiences. This helps to reach our target audience and as a result this will help the campaign to succeed if it’s done right.
9.1 Target Audience:
The target audience is the group of people to whom the message is targeted. They can be a single or a group of people or multiple audiences who are intended to receive the message of the campaign. The target audience consists –
Primary audience
Secondary audience
Tertiary audience
9.1.1 Primary audience
Primary target audiences are the direct beneficiaries of the campaign.
Our primary target audience for the campaign is-
9.1.2 Secondary audience
Secondary target audience is the people who can influence the primary target audience.
For our campaign, they are-
9.1.3 Tertiary audience
Tertiary audiences are the group of people who can influence both primary & secondary audiences.
The Tertiary audience are-
10. Audience Behavior Analysis
We interviewed 5 people from 3 different target audience groups to analyze their behavior regarding social distancing and the new normal.
1 | Primary Target Audience | A male student of ULAB |
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2 | Primary Target Audience | A female student of ULAB |
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3 | Secondary Target Audience | Mother of a student |
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4 | Secondary Target Audience | Owner of a restaurant in Satmasjid Road. |
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5 | Tertiary Audience | A social media influencer. |
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11. Goals and Objectives
10.1 Goals:
- To raise awareness among students regarding the importance of social distancing.
- To inform that the second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic might cause a lot more damage if we do not act responsibly to stop the reproduction of the coronavirus.
11.2 Objectives
The SMART objectives of the campaign are given below:
Key Component | Objective |
Specific - What is the specific task? | Raising awareness among Ulab students regarding the importance of social distancing. |
Measurable - What are the standards or parameters? | 1. Creating awareness among students to maintain social distancing so that we can reduce the virus infection rate from 19.64% to zero. 2. To encourage 27.4% of the students to maintain distance and personal safety while going out. |
Achievable - Is the task feasible? | This task is achievable if the promotions of the campaign is done right. |
Realistic - Are sufficient resources available? | We can partner with Ulab Media Club. As they have a significant number of members and their social media platforms are very active, they can spread the message across a large number of students. |
Time-Bound - What are the start and end dates? | We will aware ULAB students from 25th of September to 25th of October. |
12.Key Message
Message plays a vital role in a campaign.We can gain attention and also infrom to our target audiences through message. So, selection of proper message for a campaign is very important.We created 1 core message and 3 sub messages for this campaign. Our core message and 2 sub messages have written in Bangla.As our mother language is bangla , that is why it will connect more to our target audience. Along with 2 bangla sub message , we also have a English sub message for this campaign.
Core message
“২ হাত দূরে থাকেন ভাই”
Our core message is “২ হাত দূরে থাকেন ভাই”. It’s English meaning is like “Brother, Stay away from 2 hand distance”. The message is very short. But it is very specifically informing people to stay away from 2 hand distance. Anyone can easily understand that this message is indicating to maintain social distance. As people are passing a very hard time for this pandemic .People are already in a stressed situation, that is why we don’t want to make people more serious by conveying serious messages through our campaign. So we decided to convey our messages to our audiences in a amusing way. Instead of becoming more stressed about mainataining social distance , people will be more inspired or influenced to maintain social distance through this message.
Sub Messages
1st Sub message
“Infection Rate কমে গেলে খুশি হবার কিছু নেই
Second wave মোকাবেলায় সতর্ক হওয়া চাই”
This is our 1st sub message. It meeans infection rates might be low that doesn’t mean we will back to our previous normal lifestyle. Instead of going back to our previous normal lifestyle, we have to prepare ourself for the second wave of COVID-19. We are alerting or informing people regarding the second wave of COVID-19 through our message.
2nd Sub message
“২ মিটার সামাজিক দূরত্বকে হ্যা বলি”
Our second sub message is“২ মিটার সামাজিক দূরত্বকে হ্যা বলি” . It’s english meaning is “ say yes to 2 meter social distance”. We are promoting social distance through this message. Other purposes of this message are motivating , informing and agreeing people to maintain 2 meter social distance.
3rd Sub message:
“Let’s keep a safe distance For a safer future”
Our 3rd sub message is “Let’s keep a safe distance For a safer future” . This message also motivating or inspiring people to maintain social distance.
13. Communication for Campaign
13.1 Communication Channel
PSA
Poster 1
Poster 2
Facebook
Facebook cover photo
Banner 1
Banner 2
Webinar 1
Webinar 2
Sticker 1
Sticker 2
T-shirt 1
T-shirt 2
Sunglasses
13.2 Communication Mix
How messages will be delivered through the communication tool to the target audiences is a very important communication strategy of a campaign. Lack of using proper communication tool can ruin a campaign’s whole strategy. So proper communication strategy with proper communication tools lead a campaign in a success way.
14. Timeline :
15.Monitoring and Evaluation
In order to know how much a campaign achieved its goal, monitoring and evaluation of a campaign is must. As our maximum communication channel will be online based, that is why we have to monitor social media to know our audience responses. After every 15 days a social media expert team will be monitor the social in order to know audience responses toward this campaign. After finishing two months of our campaign the final evaluation will be happened by conducting a survey.
[1] [1]https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1 [2] Young, working-age people mostly infected with COVID-19 in Bangladesh. Maswood, Manzur H. 2020, New Age Bangladesh. [3] https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-second-wave/a-54429614. [4] https://tbsnews.net/coronavirus-chronicle/millions-more-could-die-possible-2nd-coronavirus-wave-who-official-warns-98437 [5] https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019?gclid=Cj0KCQjwhvf6BRCkARIsAGl1GGj7lauzrwsS3Bwj6uDscsNt1XGVF88xKzvDe6QgIXO9K7YOPrwOMRcaAoMvEALw_wcB
[6] https://tbsnews.net/bangladesh/health/3-tested-positive-coronavirus-bangladesh-iedcr-53476 [7] https://www.who.int/bangladesh/emergencies/coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-update [8] https://www.dw.com/en/jacinda-ardern-leadership-in-coronavirus-response/a-53733397
[10] https://www.who.int/bangladesh/emergencies/coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-update [11] UNB.(2020).Mass exodus from Dhaka raises corona concerns
[12] UNB.(2020).Mass exodus from Dhaka raises corona concerns
[13] AlJAZEERA.(2020). Coronavirus: In dense Bangladesh, social distancing a tough task
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