COVID-19; Google trend; health communication; panel data analysis; public health measures; Humans; United States; Search Engine; Communicable Disease Control; Quarantine; Health Communication; Pollution; Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health; Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Abstract :
[en] The COVID-19 outbreak at the end of December 2019 spread rapidly all around the world. The objective of this study is to investigate and understand the relationship between public health measures and the development of the pandemic through Google search behaviors in the United States. Our collected data includes Google search queries related to COVID-19 from 1 January to 4 April 2020. After using unit root tests (ADF test and PP test) to examine the stationary and a Hausman test to choose a random effect model, a panel data analysis is conducted to investigate the key query terms with the newly added cases. In addition, a full sample regression and two sub-sample regressions are proposed to explain: (1) The changes in COVID-19 cases number are partly related to search variables related to treatments and medical resources, such as ventilators, hospitals, and masks, which correlate positively with the number of new cases. In contrast, regarding public health measures, social distancing, lockdown, stay-at-home, and self-isolation measures were negatively associated with the number of new cases in the US. (2) In mild states, which ranked one to twenty by the average daily new cases from least to most in 50 states, the query terms about public health measures (quarantine, lockdown, and self-isolation) have a significant negative correlation with the number of new cases. However, only the query terms about lockdown and self-isolation are also negatively associated with the number of new cases in serious states (states ranking 31 to 50). Furthermore, public health measures taken by the government during the COVID-19 outbreak are closely related to the situation of controlling the pandemic.
Disciplines :
Public health, health care sciences & services
Author, co-author :
Wang, Binhui; School of Management, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Liang, Beiting; College of Economics, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Chen, Qiuyi; School of Journalism, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Wang, Shu ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre ; Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Wang, Siyi; Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Huang, Zhongguo; Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Long, Yi; Law School of Artificial Intelligence, Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai 201701, China
Wu, Qili; School of Journalism and Communication, Jinan University National Media Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Xu, Shulin; School of Economic, Guangzhou College of Commerce, Guangzhou 511363, China
Jinna, Pranay; School of Business, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USA
Yang, Fan; Communication Department, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USA
Ming, Wai-Kit; Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China ; Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Liu, Qian ; School of Journalism and Communication, Jinan University National Media Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China ; School of Business, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USA
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