MUSCAT: A total of 6.5 per cent of the total tweets about coronavirus pandemic in Oman were misleading, according to a study conducted by the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU).
A thesis by Bayan bint Mohammed Al Ajmi from the Department of Information Studies at the College of Arts and Social Sciences at SQU pointed out that most of the information focused on news about new infections, deaths and available treatments.
“This is a small percentage, but it constitutes a challenge in the field of public health and affects the strategies that are put in place to address the epidemic, with the emergence of the information epidemic,” Bayan said in an interview with Arabic Radio Al Wisal.
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The thesis is titled ‘Tools and procedures for dealing with misleading information and its challenges in light of crises in the Sultanate of Oman: A case study of the COVID-19 pandemic.’
“The government played a good role in combating misleading informations about the virus by timely updates,” she added.
Oman has so far registered more than 300,000 coronavirus cases and 4,113 deaths as of December 22, 2021. More than 80% of the target population have been fully vaccinated while more than 32,000 people have received the booster dose based on the data issued by the Ministry of Health.
