Coronavirus: love was in the air but all Hongkongers cared about was getting a face mask, new survey of social media shows
- Epidemic Index 2.0 report focused on online posts since the start of the year
- People were at their happiest on Valentine’s Day when protective gear became widely available, while fear peaked on January 5
Wisers, a market intelligence enterprise platform provider, has released its “Epidemic Index 2.0” report, and outlined a series of public opinion highlights during the outbreak based on 840,000 posts on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, forums and other online platforms, and more than 24.45 million comments left by online users.
The research, conducted from January 1 to May 15, showed that the day pharmacy chain Watsons launched its online face mask registration, with a box of 50 masks for each, was the happiest day among the city’s residents.
Before that Hong Kong had faced a citywide shortage of hygiene products, including face masks and hand sanitiser, as well as toilet paper and rice, following panic buying after the virus arrived.
The study also found fear was at its height on January 5, when people used the “fear” emoji to express concern over the local suspected coronavirus cases, while the angriest day was on February 28.
