Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

February 28, 2020

Community responses during the early phase of the COVID-19 epidemic in Hong Kong: risk perception, information exposure and preventive measures

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  • A cross-sectional online survey was conducted only 36 hours after the first COVID-19 patient was confirmed in Hong Kong, and continued from Jan 24 to Feb 13. 1,715 people completed the survey on perceived health status, risk perception, information sources, travel history, respiratory symptoms in the previous 14 days. 
  • The most common information sources were social platforms (94%) and websites (90%), even though they were poorly rated in terms of reliability (16%-23%) and trustworthiness. Most respondents regarded themselves as likely to be infected (89%), and if infected, considered the severity to be serious (97%). Only 15% of respondents thought they would be likely to survive COVID-19 and considered severity to be lower than SARS. Anxiety rates were high, and enhanced personal hygiene and travel avoidance were adopted by most respondents. Social distancing was most common among women and those with more anxiety. 
  • Given the population’s reliance on social media and online information, the authors suggest that scientific information be conveyed via those channels. In addition, the authors suggest that early recognition of perceived risk, combined with access to trusted sources of information as a way to enhance non-pharmaceutical interventions may assist other countries in the early stages of an outbreak.

Kwok et al. (Feb 27, 2020). Community responses during the early phase of the COVID-19 epidemic in Hong Kong: risk perception, information exposure and preventive measures. Pre-print downloaded Feb 28 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.26.20028217