Volume 29, Issue 5, 2020
DOI: 10.24205/03276716.2020.1151
Official and Unofficial Media Information and the Public Panic during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: An Empirical Analysis
Abstract
The rapid spread of COVID-19 worldwide, similar to the SARS pandemic in 2013, which suddenly appeared in China, has caused panic among the people. Consequently, there is a need for a prompt and empirical investigation into the key factors promoting public panic during the outbreak in a bid to complement the global fight against the consequences of COVID-19. In this paper, a binary regression logit model was utilized to measure panic level among the Chinese residents. Subsequently, the main factors behind the panic were verified. The results show that psychological panic among the public is driven mainly by the influx of Wuhan residents, dissemination of official COVID-19 related information, living conditions and discussions of the surrounding people, and concerns about the possibility of transmission. In this connection, respective government committee are advised to declare a moderate lockdown of the province of Hubei (or Wuhan City), promote the circulation of positive news about key pandemic results, intensify drug research and development, and provide psychological intervention as countermeasures against the public panic. This study also provides some useful recommendations for the public authority to combat the novel coronavirus and manage emergencies.
Keywords
COVID-19, Public Panic, Logit Regression Model, Emergency Management