The Welsh Government have spent more than £10m on coronavirus information campaigns over the past two years.
Messaging was key to keeping the virus under contro l. Whether that be self isolating, mask wearing, speaking to contact tracers or getting jabbed phrases like Keep Wales Safe, Test Trace and Protect and HelpUsHelpYou were seen across a wide variety of different platforms. As health is devolved in Wales there was often different messaging in Wales compared to England. For example initially everyone in the UK was told to Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives but that soon changed in England to Stay Alert. Wales did not follow these changes.
But all this public messaging costs money. In the digital age there are so many different ways of platforms being used many information campaigns target a wide variety of different media. This is especially needed when message has to reach people across different generations and age groups. A Freedom of Information Request (FoI) to the Welsh Government has revealed how much was spent on Covid message over the pandemic.
