It is not possible to deny the unbelievable societal impact since the outbreak of the novel corona virus People coming out daily with their different opinions about the novel corona virus as well as different messages especially on social media. All of us are bombarded daily with messages regarding to the pandemic, the media houses are also not left out as they strive to update the society on the novel corona virus and preventive measures. There are also some undergraduate project topics on the corona virus pandemic. However, as this virus garners heightened attention from the media, individuals may have difficulty delineating between misinformation and accurate information about the illness.

WHAT IS COUNSELING?

Counseling is a form of professional inter-personal communication between the counselor and the client. It seeks to identify the client problems and seek possible solutions. In Counseling advice is given to a client on social, psychological or personal problems and this is done professionally.
Counseling is the process of assisting and guiding clients, especially by a trained professional to help the client in resolving psychological, social or personal problems as the case may be.

CORONA VIRUS PANDEMIC

Corona viruses are a large family of viruses that are known to cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
It is worthy of note that the infection affects patients with and without underlying diseases, although the majority of the casualties are older patients or patients with significant concomitant.
It can also be transmitted from human to human, including in patients who have not visited Wuhan the epicenter of the novel corona virus when it started, this is because it can be transmitted. Coming in contact with an infected person or touching surfaces where an infected person has touched or used can put you at risk and there is every chance that you will get infected as well. Transmission is believed to occur only after symptoms of lower respiratory tract infections present, due to its tropism for intrapulmonary epithelial cells.
Common signs attributed to the novel corona virus include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

INFORDEMICS ON CORONA VIRUS PANDEMIC

The infordemics on corona virus is the level of information people have about the novel corona virus. How and where are these information’s disseminated. Information’s on corona virus are in all sources of mass media like the TV, radio, newspaper, and also the social media like facebook, twitter, instagram, whatsapp etc. through this medium, people are informed and updated on daily basis on the novel corona virus.

INFORMATION OVERLOAD ISSUES

Since the break out of the novel corona virus, there has been a lot of information’s flying around about the novel corona virus. People are getting scared as they don’t know what to believe anymore, there’s a high rise of tension in the society. What you hear today isn’t what you will hear tomorrow, people writing different things on the novel corona virus especially on social media. The worst part of it is that people are reading these information’s and digesting them, some of these information’s creates fear in some people, some think is manmade while some even think is not real and non-existence. Having such fear can kill the person before even getting infected.
People should be counsel on what they should and are listening to in order to maintain their peace of mind as well as their Mental sanity.

THE ROLE OF COUNSELING IN CONTROLLING INFORMATION OVERLOAD AMONG PEOPLE

The fear that has grown in a lot of people as a result of what they digest in these Medias has made them nervous and having the thought of dying soon. This is where counseling comes in; people need to be counsel in order to maintain their psychological and mental health and well being. They should be counsel on the virus and made to understand that it is not a death sentence as long as preventive measures are harkened to as well reporting to the appropriate agency if you feel any of the symptoms or have someone who shows all symptoms of corona virus. This will help in curtailing the spread of the corona virus.