Tallinn, Stenbock House, 6 April 2020 – In order to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus, the state has launched a social responsibility campaign “You go out – You spread the virus. Stay home!” (“Lähed välja – levitad viirust. Püsi kodus!”) that calls on the Estonian people to prevent the unintentional spreading of the coronavirus.
“The next two weeks will be critical in controlling the spread of the coronavirus, and it is important to follow the requirements established to prevent the spread of the virus strictly,” said Urmas Seaver, Director of the Government Communication Office, adding that the nice spring weather should not distract us from maintaining our vigilance and an increased sense of risk.
“The general message of the information campaign is a call to stay home, because, according to researchers, reducing the number of close contacts has already helped to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The creative solution of the campaign is built on examples of how simple it is to spread the virus in the course of our daily lives by not following the rules,” said Seaver.
According to Seaver, the society is already showing signs of growing tired of the coronavirus, which may make people more careless in preventing the spread of the virus. “In the next few weeks, you should continue calling your loved ones to keep in touch, rather than visit them. Even “dropping by” is enough to spread the virus,” said Seaver. “This is the only way for us to reduce the spread of the virus and begin returning to our regular lives,” he added.
The responsibility campaign provides residents with three general guidelines for controlling the spread of the virus – staying home, avoiding close contact, and following hygiene rules.
The weekly public opinion poll commissioned by the Government Office shows that 97–99% of the Estonian population is well informed of issues related to the coronavirus in their own opinion. In their own estimate, 79% of the population follows all the rules and instructions established to fight the virus, while 25% of the population goes out as much as they did before. While most of them move about due to work or other duties, one in seven (or 14%) does not think their actions affect the situation, and 7% go out because they are tired of sitting at home – most of them are 15–24 years of age. However, with such behaviour, they put both their own health and lives in danger as well as those of other people. Instructions for behaving in the emergency situation can be found at kriis.ee/en.
The social responsibility campaign was developed by the agencies Kontuur Leo Burnett and MediaCom. The Government Communication Unit thanks all the organisations and people who have supported informing people of COVID-19 – the Estonian Marketing Association, the Estonian Newspaper Association, Omniva, and many others.
Ad samples: https://www.kriis.ee/en/information-materials