1Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)Student’s Name:Institution Affiliation:2Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)World Health Organization (WHO) received information about pneumonia cases ofunknown cause originating in Wuhan City, China, on December 31, 2019. On January 7, 2020,the Chinese authorities identified the cause to be the novel coronavirus assigned a temporaryname "2019-nCoV". A large family of viruses results in coronaviruses (CoV), causing illnessessuch as the common cold, which might evolve into more severe diseases. In the history of humandiseases, the novel coronavirus (nCoV) emerged as a new strain. With the subsequent spreadingof the virus, it was later named as "COVID-19 virus". Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHODirector-General, on January 30, 2020, declared the outbreak of novel coronavirus as a publichealth emergency of international concern (PHEIC). The outbreak was the highest level of alarmdeclared by WHO. During that time, within the 18 countries outside China, the number of caseswas 98 with no deaths WHO Director-General announced through the media on March 11, 2020,that the outbreak could exist as a pandemic due to a large number of cases outside china(“Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic”, 2020). The information shared through differentmedia platforms shows within 114 countries, there were about 118000 cases by then, and thenumber of deaths reaching 4291. the reported confirmed cases globally by mid-March 2020 wereabout 40 percent making the WHO European Region the pandemic's epicenter. The globalmortality within the same region by April 28, 2020, was 63 percent. WHO has been workinghard since reporting the first cases to help countries prepare and respond to the global pandemic.Digital media platform such as Television channel like CNN has been the epitome ofcirculating information about COVID-19 pandemic. Since the reporting of the first cases inChina, the digital media platform has been gathering information to advise the public on thepandemic's impact. Thus, it is evident that the media has been playing an important role in3ensuring preparedness by countries. At first, different nations were interpreting the pandemicinformation, but with most TV stations covering what was happening in China, differentcountries started implementing measures. Other nations were also reluctant to address thepandemic as there was the normalcy of doing things among the citizens. The greatest impact thatmade most nations respond is receiving how the pandemic has impacted countries such as Italy.Almost every media platform shared how Italy was greatly hit by the pandemic, with thousandsof new cases each day (Anwar et al., 2020). The number of deaths increased each day, therebyoverwhelming most hospitals. Most countries started implementing measures such as a travelban and imposing lockdowns in major cities. The information shared through digital media mademany nations respond with caution by imposing different restrictions.The imposed lockdowns and restrictions made most of the people work from home whileothers lost their jobs. The media helped outline how people are struggling with the pandemic,which was a good strategy to identify areas with people requiring support. Most nations providedfunding to ensure citizens managed to cope with the situation. Also, through the media, thegovernment managed to communicate to the public on the measures to take personally. Differentprintouts were circulated to public places, encouraging people to always wash their hands or usehand sanitizers to prevent contracting the virus (Anwar et al., 2020). Also, in different publicplaces such as supermarkets, they installed audio messages to maintain social distance.The use of digital media such as cable TVs, websites, social media platforms was a goodchannel to share information about the pandemic. With most of the people currently havingaccess to such a platform, the government's effort to enlighten the public on measures to takewas through digital media. As a global concern, all the platforms played an important role inenlightening the public about the pandemic. Through such a platform, the government and health4organizations managed to enlighten the public on the virus's prone and ways to help control thevirus (Anwar et al., 2020). Despite different nations having challenges in hospitals and healthcare, they managed to seek support from other countries through the media. Different mediapublishers show other countries offering doctors to help countries like Italy to fight the virus.Also, different countries were receiving financial support from international bodies to helpaddress people's health and welfare.The print and audio media platform was the primary channel covering the spread of thevirus. Preparing both platforms' message requires a different platform, which means the audiencewill also be different. Most print media platforms were addressing the issue of COVID-19 with adifferent interpretation based on the information originating from different countries. Forexample, the data shared on different websites about daily confirmed cases could differ fromthose shared on the audio platform. Different print platform belongs to private entities such ascommon citizens as one could express mere speculations. Also, different websites could shareinformation about how different countries record a high number of deaths each day. Theinformation sometimes could differ from the one shared over the audio platform as thesechannels include government radio and visual stations (Brennen et al., 2020). These stationsrequire obtaining credible information before sharing it with the public. Also, there are highchances of government control of information to reach the public. The difference in bothplatforms shows the difference in information shared.However, both print and audio platforms share the same ideology on measures to preventthe virus's spread. Most of the printout in different public places showed messages encouragingpeople to wear masks, keep social distance, and not touch mouth, nose, and eyes, including othermeasures. The print media was also a good channel to communicate the signs and symptoms of5the virus and encourage people to visit a