? Nobody understood it

ONE of the Scottish Government’s key messages to keep people safe from Covid was ‘over-complicated’ and failed to get through to the public, according to research.

Ministers spent £1.6 million of taxpayers’ cash on the FACTS campaign launch in July last year.

The FACTS acronym was supposed to remind Scots to wear face coverings, avoid crowds, clean hands, keep two metres distanced from others, and self-isolate if they had symptoms.

However, a poll of 1,259 people by YouGov, for the Scottish Elections Study (SES) this month, has found that just 2 per cent knew what each initial stood for.

The study’s authors urged the Scottish Government not to try to bring it back, as it looks to implement more restrictions to deal with the Omicron variant.

Dr Fraser McMillan, at the University of Glasgow, said: ‘Public health communication should ideally be clear and concise, and FACTS was neither.

‘While the slogan might have served as a useful general reminder to exercise caution, our data shows that the acronym was over-complicated and ambiguous. We hope the Scottish Government will take this into account if and when similar messaging is required in future.’

The SES found that six in ten Scots knew F stood for face covering – but their understanding went downhill from there. Around 10 per cent knew A stood for avoiding crowds, and C for clean hands, but fewer than 5 per cent got the others right, and just 2 per cent knew all five.

Sue Webber, Scots Tory public health spokesman, said: ‘It’s clear from this survey that in their desire to be different, the SNP Government have over-complicated things with their confusing and ambiguous FACTS campaign.

‘With case numbers increasing daily, the SNP need to be concise in their messaging, to try to reduce the spread of the Omicron variant, and limit the strain on Scotland’s NHS, which is already at breaking point.’

Jackie Baillie, Scots Labour Covid recovery spokesman, added: ‘It’s clear that the FACTS campaign, however well-intentioned, has not been properly understood by the public.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The FACTS campaign has been very successful in helping people to stay safe and suppress the virus.’