Discussing the difficulties of sending the right message about the omicron variant.

With the first case of omicron confirmed in California and more cases expected across the U.S., public health officials who know the difference between good and bad crisis communication say they can't afford to be quiet and wait until scientists know how risky the new variant is before they speak out.

"We don't want to just be silent on the matter, because then that can cause fear and then that can allow for misinformation to creep in," says Elya Franciscus, the epidemiology operations manager for COVID-19 in Harris County, Texas.

There's a mantra in crisis communication: Be first, be right, be credible. "One of those is clearly being first," says Crystal Watson, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. "So even though we don't know a whole lot right now, I think it's important to hear from public health officials." That said, being credible also means not giving information you may have to retract as more is learned. Walking that line can be very tricky, as U.S. health officials learned at the start of the pandemic when they underestimated the usefulness of masks in protecting against infection.

Sometimes these messages can be very definitive and not convey what the uncertainty is," says Watson. The danger of being too definitive is that you can be accused of flip-flopping later if new information necessitates new guidance.

This time, a lot of local public health departments around the country are working hard to get the message right, says Adriane Casalotti of the National Association of County and City Health Officials. "We have seen local health departments being out there, trying to explain to folks what we do know, but also what we don't know — and what the timeframe is, and what the process is for learning more." ...