To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail their plans for reviewing the Executive public communications policy on COVID-19 in the run up to, and duration of winter, including reiteration of basic preventative measures the public can take to limit the spread of the virus and the use of regular Executive press conferences to update the public on the virus’s prevalence and spread, any changes to rules and advice, and other important information.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic the Executive has used a wide range of communications channels to continually communicate the latest public health advice and preventative measures.

The latest phase of the Executive’s award winning public information campaign, ‘Make safer choices and let’s keep moving forward,’ was launched on 1st November across TV, radio, digital platforms and social media.

It reiterates the key messages of previous campaigns, including –

Get a vaccine

Meet outdoors or somewhere well ventilated

Keep your distance

Wear a face covering

Take a COVID-19 test

Independent evaluation of the summer ‘Let’s Keep Moving Forward’ campaign demonstrated that 80% of individuals questioned agreed that advertising stood out and was noticeable. 78% agreed that the campaign “would persuade me to take steps to protect myself and others from coronavirus infection.”

The campaign ran from the 14th June to 31st October and it was seen or heard over 85 million times, meaning the average adult will have seen or heard the messaging almost 56 times.

To date, 12.6million users have visited the COVID-19 portal on nidirect and there have been 27.9million unique page views.

The Executive’s priority remains raising awareness about Covid-19 and its spread, and encouraging compliance with the latest public health advice in order to save lives.

We will continue to review the most effective communications approach as part of our ongoing efforts to ensure that the public is kept fully informed.