ASSESSING THE ROLE OF ICT IN THE MANAGEMENT OF COVID-19 SAFETY MEASURES DURING THE 2020 LOCKDOWNIN KANO STATE

Authors

Information and Communication Technology, Covid-19, SafetyMeasures and Management.

ICT stands for Information and Communication Technology. It is a generic term referring to a

technology being used for collecting, storing, editing, and processingof information in various

forms. Similarly, COVID-19 is a disease that has posed a devastating impact on public health in

the world and Nigeria in particular. Above all, it has crippled theeconomic and socialactivities

of the people as a result of the persistent lockdown imposed at various regular intervals when the

disease was at its height in 2020. Against this background, therefore, this paper is a reflection on

the role of ICT as it can be applied for the management of COVID-19 safety measures and other

disease outbreaks in the country in the future. The paper examine the concept of information

technology in the management of COVID-19 in Kano State. It also reviews some research work

related to the role of management of information technology in keeping the people fully informed

about their responsibilities in curtailing the spread of the virus. Methodologically, the paper

uses a descriptive survey method and purposive sampling technique, which allows the selection

of five local governments in Kano state, namely: Fagge, Dala, Nasarrawa, Tarauni, and Gwale

local governments area of Kano State. Five fundamental questions were raised, in which 20

respondents were randomly selected from each of the local governments, and the questionswere

administered to them. Data presentation and analysis: the result of the data from the field was

analysed using percentages (%). The findings of the study reveal that ICT can be used to manage

COVID-19 and any other disease outbreak in the future in Kano state. It also states that the

power supply can limit the effective use of ICT in the state. The paper provides some

recommendations for improvement in power supply and an increase in government funding in

economic activities and the production of ICT materials.