Timeliness of health science popularization in local media of Shanghai during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019

ObjectiveTo analyze the timeliness of health science popularization during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 （COVID-19） and its correlation with the epidemic situation and policies.

MethodsThe original reports of health science popularization by 26 major media in Shanghai during the COVID19 outbreak between January 19 and March 25 of 2020 were retrieved， and the timeliness of the number of reports， media sources and categories， and contents were analyzed.

ResultsDuring the epidemic of COVID-19， public media reported timely. Online media accounted for 63.35%， and text-based reports accounted for 85.90%. There was a correlation between the trend of the number of reports and the development of COVID-19 and the prevention and control policy issued by the government. After the change in the epidemic or the release of policy， the number of reports increased. The top four topics were personal protection， disease treatment， healthy lifestyle and psychological health， accounting for 18.62%， 18.54%， 12.96% and 11.74%， respectively. Reports focused on different aspects at different stages of COVID-19 epidemic， and the number of reports tended to increase one week after the occurrence of major events.

ConclusionDuring the COVID-19 epidemic， the coverage of health science on media is timely and targeted. For future similar public health emergencies， it is suggested to respond quickly to major events according to the trend， to carry out publicity timely， to innovate the report forms， and thus make it easy for the public to accept and implement.