This past weekend armored cars drove down Tashkent’s streets, announcing that people should stay indoors at all costs. 

“These loudspeakers give the city a negative atmosphere,” one resident shared on social media. “My three-year-old son runs to me whenever he hears them. They certainly don’t help to keep us calm.”

The goal of lockdown is obvious – to keep people at home and away from others, so they are less likely to become infected or spread COVID-19, thereby reducing pressure on hospitals. Still the dilemma remains that if the goal is to keep people safe and calm during the pandemic, is self-isolation better encouraged by threatening punishment, or by appealing to people’s better natures? 

Physical-distancing rules are essential, but there are reasons why people may want to break them.

The WHO and governments around the world are adamant that the more closely we stick to physical-distancing protocols, the faster this pandemic will pass, with the fewest casualties. But, keeping oneself isolated can be far easier said than done.

Keeping away from extended families can be daunting in Uzbekistan’s particular culture, but there’s also the financial strain that quarantine places on people, particularly those working in service industries and operating the SMEs that form more than half of Uzbekistan’s economy. In an anonymous survey of 162,000 people conducted by Gazeta.uz, 39% said they did not have enough savings to last just one day of lockdown. 

The question remains how to encourage people to stay at home, when doing so could harm them mentally, physically or financially.

The UK presents just one example of how positive and negative motivation can be combined. (Here ‘positive motivation’ means encouraging people by providing assistance and inspiring a sense of social responsibility, while ‘negative motivation’ means encouraging people through threats of punishment.)

The UK’s population is twice that of Uzbekistan, at 66.44m, but it currently contains 60,000 tested COVID-19 casescompared to almost 600 in Uzbekistan. Facing such a great threat, the main message from the UK’s government to its citizens has been “isolate yourself for the benefit of your loved ones, and for society as a whole”. 

This positive motivation has been balanced with a few choice methods of negative motivation – some regions have criminalized leaving home more than once a day for exercise or shopping, while nationwide those who repeatedly ignore physical-distancing rules can be fined up to £1,000 (approximately 12 million soums). 

A nation particularly resilient to COVID-19 appears to be Japan, where there are few identified cases. Japan was an early adopter of practices which came later in other countries – closing schools and trying to stagger commute times during rush hours. Japan already has social rules about wearing facemasks during illness, so this was an easy rule to maintain. However, it is thought that Japan has carried out far fewer tests than required, so its successes in fighting COVID-19 are hard to gauge.  

How this compares to the means Uzbekistan uses to encourage physical-distancing.

Like other countries, Uzbekistan was fast to accept the COVID-19 challenge. The Government quickly reassured the public that steps would be taken to tackle the virus head-on, while domestic and international travel was cancelled, and physical-distancing practices were introduced in major cities. 

The physical and mental health impacts of self-isolating have been addressed through TV and radio programs, with psychologists giving suggestions of how to live well while staying at home. The greater threat of domestic violence during quarantine is yet to be nationally recognized, although a targeted radio program has been funded by UNDP’s women’s empowerment project. 

A number of public initiatives have also been set up to keep citizens healthy and connected during lockdown, including ‘Uyda hayot bor’ (There is a life at home), ‘Uyda qoling’ (Keep indoors), and ‘COVID-19ni yengamiz’ (We will beat COVID-19). Like many other countries, Uzbekistan has worked hard to put tools in the public’s hands, for best outlasting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Negative motivation has also been used in Uzbekistan, where the punishments for breeching physical-distancing rules are more instantaneous. Being in public spaces without a protective mask can result in a $25 fine in the first instance and a $120 fine in the second. Additionally, people with fevers above 37 degrees are banned from entering bazaars and supermarkets. 

How to keep people motivated when the end is not yet in sight?

A universal worry these days is not knowing how long it will take for the COVID-19 pandemic to pass, and for physical-distancing to stop being necessary. As such, the means used to motivate people to stay home have to be constantly reviewed. 

Considering international experience, there are a few recommendations that could be applied to help Uzbekistan’s public maintain physical-distancing and reduce infection rates. 

-        Laws enforcing physical-distancing could be altered so that people are not scared to enter the streets. Supporting people to leave home once daily, to safely gather supplies or to exercise, could minimize the frustrations of lockdown and make people more resilient to stress.

-        National efforts to fight domestic violence could be strengthened during the COVID-19 pandemic. New means of supporting victims could be introduced.

-        Mass media could be asked to not just provide advice on overcoming the detrimental health impacts of isolation, but also to suggest ways of maintaining social contact from home. Public events like ‘window concerts’ could be arranged, to help keep morale high. 

-        While strong communication channels already exist between Uzbekistan’s citizens and the Government, a dedicated online forum could be established where people could share concerns about the on-going lockdown situation with decision-makers and government partners so that’s an interactive two-ways communications.

Fighting COVID-19 is a collective struggle experienced by people isolated by space but connected in spirit. If citizens feel well supported in this difficult time, they will persevere.