Role of social media in the Delay of Corona Virus (COVID-19) Spread in Kebbi State

Abstract

A mysterious pneumonia outbreak has been announced by the World Health Organization on 31 December 2019,which was later known as COVID-19. COVID-19 is a novel virus that was then declared as pandemic due to its threatto the entire world from its nature of transmission. Since the outbreak, the world has experienced an unexpectedthreat with countless loss of lives across the globe. Despite the danger of COVID-19, many parts of the worldreceived insufficient or no information regarding the virus; its transmission prevention and effective handling oncesomeone is caught with the virus. Although various media sources such as newspapers, televisions, online forums,and social media have been filled with abundant information related to COVID-19, hence, the need to investigatethe contributions of these media sources in the delay of spread of the virus through proper dissemination of COVID-19 related information. This research aims at exploring the role of social media in controlling the COVID-19pandemic in Kebbi state, Nigeria. A survey method was employed in gathering and analyzing data. The resultsrevealed that, majority of the Kebbi state citizens received educational information on the virus and its variouspreventive measures through social media. The people of Kebbi state are fully aware and proactive towards themajor preventive measures against COVID-19 spread.