[fairity]

If I'm not mistaken, your claim is that: In times of crisis, leaders need to clearly and succinctly convey direction.

This is generally a good rule to follow because we want to maximize compliance, and being anything but succinct defeats that goal.

However, this case is an exception to the rule because there's no action that requires compliance. The official is, in fact, asking for no compliance. Therefore, there's no need to be succinct. In fact, it's a great opportunity to build trust with the general public so that when compliance is required, you are able to achieve it.