JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

In the absence of vaccines and established treatments, nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) are fundamental tools to control coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission. NPIs require public interest in order to be successful. In the United States, there is a lack of published research on the factors that influenced public interest in COVID-19. Using Google Trends, we examined the US level of public interest in COVID-19 and how it correlated to testing and other countries.

Objective:

To determine how public interest in COVID-19 in the US changed over time and the key factors driving this change, such as testing. US COVID-19 public interest was compared to countries that have been more successful in their containment and mitigation strategies.

Methods:

In this retrospective study, Google Trends was used to analyze the volume of internet searches within the US relating to COVID-19, focusing on dates between December 31, 2019 to March 24, 2020. Volume of internet searches related to COVID-19 was compared to other countries.

Results:

Within the US throughout January and February 2020, there was limited search interest in COVID-19. Interest declined for the first 21 days of February. A similar decline was seen in geographical regions that were later found to be experiencing undetected community transmission in February. Between March 9 and March 12, there was a rapid rise in search interest. This rise in search interest was positively correlated with the rise of positive tests for SARS-CoV-2 (6.3, 95% CI −2.9 to 9.7; P <.001). Within the US, it took 52 days for search interest to rise substantially from first positive case; in countries with more successful outbreak control it took less than 15 days.

Conclusions:

Containment and mitigation strategies require public interest in order for them to be successful. The initial US level of COVID-19 public interest was limited, and even fell during a time when containment and mitigation strategies were being put in place. A lack of US public interest in COVID-19 existed when containment and mitigation policies were in place. Based on our analysis, it is clear policy makers need to develop novel methods of communicating COVID-19 public health initiatives.