The Effect of Public Trust on Information of the Spread of Novel Coronavirus Outbreak 2019 (Covid-19)

Abstract

Public trust in information to maintain health in tackling the spread of the COVID-19 virus outbreak (coronavirus disease 2019) is very important, because someone needs to learn about the disease and take action according to the information. The study was conducted in 7 villages, Enrekang Regency, Cendana District, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The majority of these areas are farmers and are areas affected by the corona virus outbreak with a fairly high increase in cases. The research method was carried out by interviewing several informants, documentation and literature related to research, with the aim of finding out how people trust various sources of information and share information on COVID-19. The results of the study show that people are indifferent, do not care about health protocols and even there are many people who do not believe in the covid-19 virus, with misleading information to overcome this, socialization is carried out in a more persuasive way, the role and coordination of opinion leaders, strategic placement of information media. The role of government agencies, health professionals, information media and community participation is very important, as they are a trusted source of information and share information from these sources because they think it will increase awareness about disease outbreaks and promote disease prevention. This suggests that overall, a better understanding of the different psychological mechanisms underlying the sharing of health information from multiple sources could help contribute to the provision of more effective information about COVID-19 prevention.