Bridgetown, Barbados. March 15, 2020. The Caribbean Broadcasting Union, CBU has taken note of the rapidly increasing number of territories in the Caribbean reporting cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID 19). The Union is urging citizens of the region to stay close to tried and tested radio and television broadcasters and newspapers for credible and reliable information in their communities.

“There is a lot of misinformation being circulated, which can create confusion and undermine the efforts of authorities to get the best results in a difficult situation. CBU members are committed to providing accurate, balanced and reliable information to the public,” a CBU statement said.

“Some weeks ago, the Secretariat hosted a Webinar in which more than 20 members participated as we got early information from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), the Caribbean Public Health Association (CARPHA) and the Caribbean Emergency Disaster Response Agency (CDERA). We will be having a follow up soon,” the CBU added.

The CBU advises that members are also willing to discuss and provide airtime support for the running of Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and carrying educational material as children are at home in some countries where restrictions include schools being closed.

The members of the CBU will also be sharing more information between themselves from one country to another, in order to keep the region more informed.

“We remind all that the medical advice and evidence so far is that eight out of every ten persons getting the virus will have no complications and will be healthy again. We therefore urge care, calm and good hygiene practices to help us get through this period with minimum casualties,” the union concluded.