The Urgency of Public Communication Protocols Related to Crisis Management in Prevention Control and Management of Pandemic

This study investigated the urgency of government communication protocols in dealing with pandemics.
Communication is the most important part of dealing with the threat of a pandemic. Public trust needs to be built and
maintained, thus, there is no panic in the community and the handling can run smoothly. One of the instructions given
by the President is that the Government must show that the Government is serious, the Government is ready and the
Government can handle pandemics. Perceptions of the readiness and seriousness of the Government need to be
conveyed to the public through comprehensive and periodic explanations, by explaining what the Government has
done and will do. The purpose of communication is to create a calm society and to understand what they have to do
for their immediate environment, as well as to build people's perceptions that the State is present and responsive in
controlling the crisis that occurs. The results showed that the ineffective implementation of the crisis management
strategy carried out by the government as described above was influenced by several factors. First, the poor public
communication carried out by stakeholders regarding the ongoing pandemic and the policies that accompany it.
Second, differences in perceptions in translating policies related to handling COVID-19 by both central and regional
stakeholders. Third, differences in perceptions between the central government and regional governments are caused
by differences in interests and political factors as well as unclear directions from the Central Government to Regional
governments