Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) technical guidance by WHO Responding to community spread of COVID-19 | Page 2

Responding to community spread of COVID-19: Interim guidance
Risk communication and community engagement Public health measures
Summary
COVID-19 preparedness and response strategies and
interventions need to be announced and explained to the
public and other sectors of society ahead of time, and again
whenever they change. It is essential to communicate to the
public what is known, what is unknown, and what is being
done to prevent and control transmission. Responsive,
transparent, consistent, and nuanced messaging that
acknowledges and address public perceptions is required to
establish/maintain authority and trust. Systems should be
developed to proactively manage the infodemic of
misinformation by detecting and responding to concerns,
rumours and misinformation. Summary
Public health measures can slow the transmission and spread
of infectious diseases. These measures can take the form of
personal protective, environmental, social distancing, and
travel related interventions. Currently, there are no vaccines
or specific pharmaceutical treatments available for
COVID-19. Public health interventions are and will continue
to be an important tool to reduce transmission and prevent
spread of COVID-19.
Recommended actions
 Define rationale and criteria for use of social
distancing measures such as cancellation of mass
gatherings or school closure.
Recommended actions
Highest priority:
 Implement national risk communication and
community engagement plans for COVID-19 using
existing pandemic influenza or other public health
communication procedures.
 Use a consistent mechanism to communicate about
prevention and control measures and engage with
media, public health and community-based
networks, local governments and NGOs, and other
sectors (e.g. healthcare, education sector, business,
travel, environment, animal and food/agriculture).
 Promote culturally appropriate and empathetic
community engagement to detect and rapidly
respond to public perceptions and counter
misinformation.
Public health measures
Developed for influenza, this document provides
recommendations for personal protective, environmental and
social distancing interventions which are useful for
COVID-19 and other respiratory infections transmitted
through contact and droplets. See also COVID-19 specific
guidance below.
Available in English.
Situation Intervention
Recommended in
all situations. • Hand hygiene
• Respiratory etiquette
• Masks for symptomatic
individuals.
Secondary priority
 Conduct analysis of risk perceptions, high risk
groups, barriers and enablers for effective public
communication. • Isolation and treatment of ill
individuals.
Resources
Risk communication and community engagement checklists
Guidance to implement effective RCCE strategies, including
recommended RCCE goals and actions for countries with
confirmed COVID-19 cases. Available in English, Chinese,
French and Russian. • Traveler health advice
• Monitoring symptoms of healthy
contacts.
• Environmental cleaning
Consider, based on
local and/or global
evaluation.
• Avoid crowding (i.e. mass
gatherings).
• School closures and other
measures.
WHO guidance on risk communications and community
engagement (RCCE) readiness and response to the 2019
novel coronavirus (nCoV 2019). • Public transportation closures,
and/or
Coming soon: Risk communication and community
engagement strategy.
Coming soon: Risk communication for health workers
Coming soon: Community engagement for
WHO Representatives. • Public health quarantine
(asymptomatic contacts) and/or
isolation (ill individuals).
• Workplace closures and other
measures.
Guidance for mass gatherings in the context of COVID-19
Outlines key planning considerations for organizers of mass
gatherings.
Available in English and Russian.
Training: OpenWHO Emerging respiratory viruses,
including COVID-19.
Module C: Risk Communication and Community
Engagement.
Available in English, French, Chinese, and Spanish.
Considerations for quarantine of individuals in the context of
containment for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Guidance to Member States on quarantine measures for
individuals in the context of containment for COVID-19.
Available in English.
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