Abstract
The world is facing the extensive spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome- coronavirus 2. This "epidemic puts intensive pressure on health-care, economic, and social structures. Commitment to implementing effective public health approaches will take bold interventions by public health professionals and strong leadership by the nation's governing bodies. Accompanied by false information, mass media content is hindering efforts to cope with the current outbreak. Although the World Health Organization and other concerned bodies are notified regarding misinformation, myths and rumours are highly prevalent. This paper aims to highlight the misinformation and its potential impacts during the Covid-19 by using the Systematic Review Approach”. During this crisis, several myths, lack of awareness, knowledge, and preparedness would put general public and health care staf at risk. Misinformation or rumours spread faster than Covid -19 Viruses. In the beginning, people across the world were very serious and cautious about Covid – 19 and pieces of information related to it amplified the fear, but over the period, people got “Caution Fatigue." The Info emic has afected each of us irrespective of whether we are afected by Covid 19 epidemic. The guidelines given by WHO & Governments and eficacy about wearing the mask, sanitizing hand Physical or social distancing have been much debated both by the researchers and the layman in a village because there is an unprecedented situation facing the first time our lifetime. The dilemma is how to pass the knowledge of current disease statistics and its prevention to the general population at a rate equivalent to or betterthan the spreading epidemic. The very nature of the myth is that it gets publicized widely in a very short time, and people tend to follow a myth without questioning its authenticity or evidence for/against a myth. Moreover, during a pandemic, crowd psychology plays a major driving force in believing and practicing a ritual/procedure To certain acts/beliefs can enhance public stigma related to COVID-19. Both myths and public stigma get combined, shaping society's behavior toward disease and those infected by the same. Many myths related to the spread of infection are compounded with the stigma associated with patients recovered from COVID-19 infection and the health care workers (HCWs), working in COVID-19 wards/hospitals. Simultaneously, a huge amount of health-threatening misinformation is spreading at a faster rate than the disease itself. The major proportion of this rumour is disseminated in the web-2 era through media. Thus, delivering fast, accurate and reliable information addressing infection control's critical problems is, therefore, of key importance. This research paper outlines both the positive and negative impact of media news during the coronavirus epidemic on health care on the general population. However, if used wisely and prudently, media serves as a powerful tool for changing people's behaviour and promoting individuals' well-being and public health. How can different media industries and channels for mass communication promote adaptive responses to foster positive health attitudes and adherence to preventive measures? How media impact the dynamics in the private domain". For and against arguments, guidelines, SOPs, suggestions and advice to prevent the infection have created a mental trauma for many weak personalities worldwide, and people were afraid of the death threat. The news about asymptomatic patients moving around has added fuel to the fire. Every aspect of Covid prevention was subjected to debate, and the general public and even well-educated could not get the facts even today and are sailing the ship without the actual destination. Tries to analyses, this research paper “Infodemic during pandemic” about Covid – 19 shared in the mass media and social media. Three important prevention methods suggested by WHO and all the governments 1)Wearing mask, 2) Sanitizing Hand, 3)Maintaining Social/ Physical distance and public perception, and adherence to SOPs in the state of
Nagaland has been dealt with in this study”.
Keywords: Covid – 19, Infodemic, Epidemic, Perception and adherence.
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