Effective communication is critical during emergencies like the COVID-19 outbreak

During an ongoing crisis, the way that experts, officials, and leaders talk with the public matters. People rely on information from those groups to understand an unfolding event and to make decisions about what they should do in response. When that communication is done well, it helps manage people’s expectations and fears, and makes it more likely that they’ll follow future instructions from officials during the crisis. If it’s done poorly, though, it can undermine trust in the institutions leading an emergency response.

As outbreaks of the novel coronavirus have progressed in the US and around the world, officials have demonstrated both good and bad risk communication. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for...

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