It does not take a genius to understand that we live in extraordinary times. But it seems that Ukraine’s political leaders fail to understand that extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and in this, I am not talking about the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic but their failure to communicate to the country what they are doing and why they are doing it.
This is not just a criticism of President Volodymyr Zelensky or the newly installed prime minister, Denys Shmygal. This is actually a call for Ukraine to take communications seriously, because now more than ever it is needed. I have, in the past, been critical also of poor communication in Ukraine. I have been critical of the toothless (and now disbanded) Ministry of Information Policy, not because I thought (as some feared) that they would become Orwellian but because they simply did not do their job.
Here’s the bottom line. With this challenge right now, we do not have time to fuck around.
One of the biggest problems I see right now, as I look across social media to understand the mood of the country, is fear. Yes, we are right to be fearful of the COVID – 19 disease. Of course. But there is more fear around the country because people simply do not understand what is happening. What is also dangerous is that the vacuum in the information space is, as is always so, being filled with dangerous disinformation, the aim of which is to stoke fear and to drive wedges in society, it is an absolute certainty that the enemy is taking advantage of this and the authorities need to address this challenge head-on. By. Becoming. Better. Communicators. The timeline for this is much like the timeline for building the country’s defenses for fighting the pandemic, it is an immediate need.
The root of fear is a lack of information
There are elements of Ukraine’s response to the global outbreak of coronavirus that have been botched. Or, rather, the communication of why certain actions have been taken has been botched. In general, and to give the government credit, the only way to reliably ascertain how well or how badly any country has stepped up to the challenge to protect their citizens is the grim fact of how many deaths there have been. As Ukraine (to date) has recorded 17 deaths (although some deaths may have been misdiagnosed), that shows that the social/physical distancing measures and the closure of public gathering places has had a remarkable effect. So far.
However, many people, for example, are questioning the wisdom of repatriating Ukrainian citizens who had been caught overseas when the outbreak started to whizz around the world. This is not an unreasonable position. The answer, though, and this could have been communicated but has not been, is simply that they are Ukrainians. And if Ukraine is to close the country’s borders to limit the influx of the virus more generally, then any Ukrainian citizen who wants to be here at home is not only entitled to be here, it is their right.
Those people who chose to come back to their home country should, then, have been given very strict instructions about how to self-isolate, and for how long. This instruction should have been accompanied by a test for the Coronavirus and the government should have ensured that both 1) the testing was happening and 2) that the rest of the country were made aware that the risks were known and being addressed. As heard anecdotally in a conversation yesterday, some returnees thought that self-isolation basically meant stay at home, and so they decided to invite some friends they hadn’t seen for a while to come to their apartments to welcome them back, thus infecting large numbers of previously-healthy people.
The government should by now understand that one of the key elements to killing this disease before it kills more people is not only the testing of people showing symptoms or returning to the country from high-risk areas but tracing the contacts of every person testing positive and then testing all of those people too. If this effort is underway (if it is not that would be criminal negligence) then this, too, needs to be communicated.
The best communication model I have seen so far is the one that has been designed and led by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. The Ukrainian government would be wise to copy and paste his formula.
A task force should be appointed. If it must consist of political leaders I guess that creates a moment for someone to shine, but only if they actually try to act as a voice of calm and reason and if they give way to the experts on all relevant questions.
That task force should be holding daily national televised briefings. Same time, every day, so that the country knows it is dependable. The principle of this press briefing must be honesty, facts, not spin, no cover-ups. “This is the state of things as they stand today”’ is not a political act, it is a moment to calm fears, and reassure citizens that – in this – their government is with them and there for them.
The kinds of facts and figures that can, and should, be a part of this daily national briefing are facts and figures related to the preparations that are being made to ensure the safety of Ukrainian citizens. “The following items of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) have been ordered today.” “The following items of PPE have been distributed to each Oblast today as follows.” “The number of tests that have been delivered to Ukraine, in total, is as follows.” “The number of tests performed in the last 24 hours is this.” “The number of new cases detected, and persons now isolated as a result, is this.” “The number of contacts of these individuals that have been recorded and are now scheduled for immediate testing is this.” “The hospitals that have been designated as COVID-19 institutions are these, and the number of ventilators that have been sent to those hospitals as of today is as follows.”
“The amount of PPE that is on order is.”
“The number of ventilators that have been ordered is.”
“The domestic production of ventilators is being investigated to reduce reliance on overseas supplies, we expect this avenue to be productive by this date.”
“Social distancing guidelines have been expanded, and this is why medical professionals believe it is necessary.”
And so on.
This is not hard to put in place, this is merely a copy of a model that is winning praise in the US, and from my interactions with American friends, I can state that many Republicans I know are appreciative of the candor and professionalism of the Democratic Governor. To get in front of this issue and to calm the nation, these daily fact briefings must start immediately. A reassuring degree of transparency – regarding actions as well as the fate of medical supplies – is not an unsubstantial by-product of this process too, in a country where transparency had to be legislated into being in the years since the EuroMaidan Revolution, the uprising that ended Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency in 2014.
Paul Niland is the Founder of Lifeline Ukraine. A professional 24/7 suicide prevention hotline established to help, first and foremost, Ukrainian Veterans.
