Coronavirus in the era of digital connectivity: Opportunities and challenges

• Published date: 01 November 2020
• Author: Rajab Idd Muyingo,Abdulhamid Mpoza,Juma Kasadha
• Date: 01 November 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2246

COMMENTARY

Coronavirus in the era of digital connectivity: Opportunities

and challenges

Rajab Idd Muyingo

1,2

|Abdulhamid Mpoza

3,4

|Juma Kasadha

5

1

Department of Radio, Television and Cinema,

Marmara University,

_

Istanbul, Turkey

2

Department of Mass Communication, Islamic

University in Uganda, Mbale, Uganda

3

School of Creative Arts, University of Lahore,

Defence Road Campus, Lahore, Pakistan

4

Institute of Communication Studies,

University of the Punjab, Quai-e-Azam

Campus, Lahore, Pakistan

5

Department of Media and Communication,

City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong,

SAR, China

Correspondence

Rajab Idd Muyingo, Department of Radio,

Television and Cinema, Marmara University,

Fahrettin Kerim Gökay St., 34722 Kadıköy,

_

Istanbul, Turkey.

Email: rajabmuyingo@marun.edu.tr

In this article, we examine the opportunities and challenges digital connectedness

creates in the fight against epidemics, in particular the coronavirus (COVID-19). We

deduce that digital connectedness of individuals and organizations eased sharing of

information on the causes and measures aimed at controlling and avoid the rapid

spread of the epidemic in developing economies of Africa. We conclude that digital

connectedness enabled African countries to access; share and implement globally

suggested mechanisms aimed at controlling the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Future, studies should examine how African economies use digital connectedness to

increase individual and organizational participation in curbing epidemics and also

boost health management.

1|INTRODUCTION

The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS); a viral respiratory

disease outbreak in Southern China (between November 2002 and

July 2003); resulted in over 8,000 reported cases and over

700 deaths in 17 countries (World Health Organization [WHO],

2003). However, today's era of technological advancement creates

different opportunities and challenges on how countries respond

to health epidemics such as the coronavirus formerly known as

2019-nCoV (Dodds & Zolfagharifard, 2020; World Health Organiza-

tion [WHO/2019-nCoV/IPC/v20202.2], 2020). The World Health

Organization officially named the coronavirus as COVID-19

(Aljazeera, 2020). COVID-19 is currently estimated to have regis-

teredover50,000casesinover24countriesandresultedinover

1,381 deaths (ICA, 2020).

In developing economies (Kasadha, 2018, 2020), digital connec-

tivity has increased community mobilization in response to their

involvement in political related activities such as elections. The use of

technology has further reinvigorated health campaign awareness and

enabled sharing of health related messages through different interac-

tive technology friendly platforms. Contrary to the 1980s digital virus

wars in which IBM scientists worked toward creating solutions to next

generation defenses against computer bugs:

“In December of 1987 an electronic message named

‘CHRISTMA EXEC’arrived at IBM's flagship Thomas

J. Watson Research Laboratory, in Yorktown Heights,

New York. Steve R. White, a theoretical physicist, was

working on an unrelated computer-security problem

when the communiqué first unfolded on a colleague's

screen, slowly tapping out keyboard characters in the

shape of a pine tree and then signing off with the

salutation ‘Merry Christmas’” (Robert, 1999).

Today's digital connectivity evidences numerous opportunities and

challenges in the fight against epidemics such as the COVID-19 out-

break in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province. Globally,

both developed and developing economies are digitally engaging

its communities on measures aimed at curbing the coronavirus

epidemic.

According to Bennett and Segerberg (2012), digital connection

resulted in individuals and organizations to easily frame and share

messages. Shared and framed messages increase citizens' awareness

and participation in initiatives aimed at curbing the COVID-19 epi-

demic. Whereas the COVID-19 global scare resulted in different

countries to quarantine its flown back citizens (Denise, 2020),

the world's increased access to technology evidence numerous

Received: 19 February 2020Accepted: 23 June 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2246

J Public Affairs. 2020;20:e2246.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd1of3

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2246