Does High Public Trust Amplify Compliance with Stringent COVID-19 Government Health Guidelines? A Multi-country Analysis Using Data from 102,627 Individuals

Association of National Identity and Trust in Government with COVID-19 Vaccination and Brand Choice in Taiwan

In Taiwan, hesitancy regarding COVID-19 vaccination centered more on the choice of vaccine brand than on the decision to vaccinate. However, there is limited research exploring the factors influencing COVID-19 vaccine brand preferences from a sociopolitical perspective. Thus, we aimed to examine how Taiwanese national identity and trust in government influence vaccination status and vaccine brand choice, using longitudinal data from 2020, 2021, and 2023. This study utilized data from the Taiwan Panel Study of Family Dynamics 2020 survey, and combined it with data from two self-administered surveys conducted in 2021 and 2023. We focused on four vaccines commonly administered in Taiwan: AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and the domestically-developed Medigen. Using Poisson regression models with robust standard errors, we assessed the effects of national identity and trust in government on the choice of COVID-19 vaccine brand. By analyzing data from 2361 participants, we found that national identity and trust in government were associated with the likelihood of COVID-19 vaccination, the number of vaccine doses received, and the brand of vaccine taken. Those who identified themselves as Taiwanese were more inclined to receive the Medigen and AstraZeneca vaccines, but less willing to receive Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Those who trusted the government were more likely to prefer and receive the Medigen vaccine. Conversely, those who didn't trust the government were less likely to prefer Medigen and AstraZeneca vaccines, but were willing to receive Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Vaccine brand preferences and uptake in Taiwan were affected by individuals' national identity and their trust in government. This highlights the critical role of sociopolitical factors in shaping public health strategies.

Trust as a catalyst: revealing the impact of government trust and professional trust on public health policy compliance during a pandemic

BACKGROUND

Existing research has extensively explored the relationship between government trust and compliance behaviour, but significant controversies exist. Some studies suggest a strong positive correlation between the two. Other studies have found that government trust hinders compliance behaviour. However, during the pandemic, the effectiveness of public health policies largely depends on the public's compliance with these policies. To examine the aforementioned controversies, this study utilizes survey data on the Chinese population during the COVID-19 period to explore the relationship between compliance with public health policies and government trust.

METHODS

The study conducted a questionnaire survey of 1,395 individuals from 25 provinces in China from mid-November to mid-December 2022. Firstly, we categorized the public's compliance behaviour with public health policies based on the results of factor analysis. Subsequently, we examined the impact of government trust and professional trust on compliance behaviour with public health policies by constructing a structural equation model.

RESULTS

Based on the results of factor analysis, we classified public adherence to public health policies into protective compliance and restrictive compliance. Results from the structural equation model show a positive correlation between the public's trust in the government and both protective and restrictive compliance, with a stronger influence on protective compliance. Government trust also exerts a positive impact on restrictive compliance behaviour through professional trust. Additionally, the study indicates a significant positive correlation between the public's professional trust and restrictive compliance, while it does not significantly affect protective compliance. Moreover, the public from rural areas demonstrates a greater willingness to adhere to both types of public health policies. Married individuals exhibit a stronger inclination toward protective compliance, while females show a stronger tendency toward restrictive compliance.

CONCLUSION

The study revealed a significant positive impact of government trust and professional trust on compliance behaviour with public health policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, refuting any negative correlation between government trust and compliance behaviour. Normative motivations for compliance behaviour had a substantial impact on adherence. These findings offer valuable insights for future public health crisis management and public policy formulation.

Love thy neighbor? The role of trust in neighbors during the COVID-19 crisis

During a pandemic, trust can either promote cooperative behavior, as people pay attention to their actions toward other people's health, or hinder cooperative behavior by decreasing risk perception. By linking South Korea's Community Health Survey data with district-level statistics of the number of confirmed cases, I examine the effect of trust during the pre-pandemic period on district-level infection rates. I find that trust in neighbors is negatively associated with infection rates during the period when people are well aware of social distancing measures. Results of the individual-level analysis demonstrate that trust in neighbors is positively associated with the probability of implementing social distancing measures, particularly, those that are difficult to enforce. This finding implies that trust in neighbors increases people's motivation to cooperate voluntarily with public precautionary measures that can reduce the probability of infection.

Public Perceptions Of COVID-19 Lockdown Policies In Europe: Socioeconomic Status And Trust Were Factors

During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments worldwide implemented nonpharmaceutical lockdown policies to mitigate the impact of the virus. The effectiveness of these policies depended on public support, and they came with serious consequences for the population. Given that people's perceptions can influence their support for lockdown policies, we aimed to elicit perceptions of policy stringency among people in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom in early 2021 as part of the European Covid Survey. We examined the extent to which objective measures of policy stringency and other factors were associated with these perceptions, focusing on disadvantaged populations. We found that objective measures of stringency did not accurately capture the impact of lockdown policies on people. Moreover, we found that socioeconomically disadvantaged people perceived policies as stricter than did less disadvantaged people and that trust in information sources greatly influenced such perceptions. Our findings underscore the importance of understanding factors influencing policy perception to help policy makers develop more effective and equitable infection containment strategies.

The Impacts of Politicization on Public Health Workers: The COVID-19 Pandemic in Oregon and Montana

CONTEXT

The contributions from the field of public health to human society are numerous and are often taken for granted. The COVID-19 pandemic thrust the largely invisible public health workforce into the public eye. Like other career civil servants at the intersection of the citizen-state encounter, reports of uncooperative, hostile, and even violent confrontations between public health workers and those they serve are on the rise. This study explores the attitudes of public health professionals in two states in the American West.

METHODS

The authors conducted an anonymous web-based survey of public health professionals in Montana and Oregon one year into the COVID-19 pandemic.

FINDINGS

Public health workers who responded to the survey reported beliefs that the COVID-19 pandemic was politicized by actors in the government, both major political parties, the media, and the public broadly. This politicization affected workers' abilities to do their jobs, with respondents in Montana experiencing more negative impacts than those in Oregon.

CONCLUSIONS

Public health workers face growing antagonism from the public and pressure from political leaders, which poses a significant concern for the public health workforce and for communities as they prepare to address and overcome future public health challenges.

Determinants of differences in RT-PCR testing rates among Southeast Asian countries during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic

A positive correlation has been demonstrated between gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and COVID-19 tests per 1000 people. Although frequently used as an indicator of economic performance, GDP per capita does not directly reflect income distribution inequalities and imposed health costs. In this longitudinal ecological study, we aimed to determine if, besides GDP per capita, indicators relating to governance, public health measures enforcement, and health and research investment explain differences in RT-PCR testing rates among countries in Southeast Asia (SEA) during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using open-access COVID-19 panel data, we estimated the effect of various indicators (GDP per capita, health expenditure per capita, number of researchers per one million population, corruption perceptions index, stringency index, regional authority index) on daily COVID-19 testing by performing fixed-effects negative binomial regression. After accounting for all indicators, the number of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases, and population density, the model provided a 2019 GDP per capita coefficient of 0.0046330 (95% CI: 0.0040171, 0.0052488; p <0.001), indicating that a rise in 2019 GDP per capita by 100 international dollars is associated with a 46.33% increase in the number of daily tests performed. Additionally, all indicators were significantly associated with the daily number of RT-PCR testing on multivariable analysis. In conclusion, we identified different country-level indicators significantly associated with differences in COVID-19 testing rates among SEA countries. Due to the study's ecological design, we caution on applying our results to the individual level given potential for systematic differences between the included countries. Additional investigation is likewise needed to understand how government expenditure on healthcare may have impacted COVID-19 testing capacity during the initial stages of the pandemic.

"Be honest and gain trust": a population health study to understand the factors associated with building trust in local government related to COVID-19 and vaccination in three historically disinvested neighborhoods in New York City

Background

Distrust in government among people of color is a response to generations of systemic racism that have produced preventable health inequities. Higher levels of trust in government are associated with better adherence to government guidelines and policies during emergencies, but factors associated with trust and potential actions to increase trust in local government are not well understood.

Methods

The COVID-19 Community Recovery study sampled participants from the New York City (NYC) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's NYC Health Panel, a probability-based survey panel who complete health surveys periodically. Participants who lived in one of three historically disinvested communities in NYC where the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has dedicated resources to reduce health inequities were included. The cross-sectional survey was fielded from September 30 to November 4, 2021 and could be self-administered online or conducted via CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) in English, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese by phone). Demographic data were summarized by descriptive statistics. Crude and adjusted logistic regression analyses were used to assess factors predictive of trust in local government as a source of information about COVID-19 vaccines. Open-ended responses about strengthening residents' trust in local government were coded using an iteratively generated codebook.

Results

In total, 46% of respondents indicated NYC local government was a trusted source of information about COVID-19 vaccines, relatively high compared to other sources. In bivariate analyses, race/ethnicity, age group, educational attainment, length of time living in NYC, and household income were significantly associated with identifying NYC government as a trusted source of information about COVID-19 vaccines. In multivariable logistic regression, no variables remained significant predictors of selecting local government as a trusted source of information. Key recommendations for local government agencies to build residents' trust include communicating clearly and honestly, addressing socioeconomic challenges, and enhancing public COVID-19 protection measures.

Conclusion

Study findings demonstrate that nearly half of residents in three historically divested NYC communities consider local government to be a trusted source of information about COVID-19 vaccines. Strategies to increase trust in local government can help reduce community transmission of COVID-19 and protect public health.

Trust in COVID-19 Information from Different Media Types and Its Association with Preventive Measures Adoption in the U.S

This study compares and contrasts how key factors influence Americans' trust in different types of media (broadcast, print, and social) as COVID-19 information sources and how people's media trust is associated with their adoption of preventive measures. Our results from a national survey (sample = 2571) showed that age, political party affiliation, and race and ethnicity and income level were significantly associated with people's trust in different media types as COVID information sources. Elder adults trusted print and broadcast media more, while younger adults trusted social media more. Democrats and Lean Democrats had more trust in all three forms of media than Republicans and Lean Republicans. Asians had the highest levels of trust in all three media types, while Whites had the lowest level of trust in broadcast and social media. Trust in broadcast media was found to be associated with facial mask wearing, but trust in social media, however, did not contribute to the adoption of any COVID-19 preventive measures. This study contributes to a general understanding of media trust and mediated health communication and provides nuanced understanding of how demographic factors shape media trust and the consequence of media trust during a historical pandemic.

Factors Associated with Trust in Public Authorities Among Adults in Norway, United Kingdom, United States, and Australia Two Years after the COVID-19 Outbreak

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the levels of trust in information provided by public authorities 2 years after the COVID-19 outbreak and to examine factors associated with trust. Methods: Using a cross-national approach, online survey data was collected from four Western countries-Australia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Differences in reports of very low or low levels of trust were examined by age, gender, area of residence, and the highest level of education in the four countries. Results: Levels of trust in the public authorities' information were highest among Norwegian respondents and lowest among U.K. respondents. Lower levels of trust in public authorities were found among males, individuals living in rural or remote areas, and those with lower levels of education. Conclusion: The outcomes contribute to knowledge regarding differences between socio-demographic groups and countries regarding the levels of trust people have in public authorities' information concerning a crisis, such as COVID-19. Strategies to promote trust in societies in different countries could consider these socio-demographic differences.

Public perception of the appropriateness of COVID-19 management strategies and level of disturbances in daily activities: A focus on educational level

BACKGROUND

This study investigated the association between public perception of the appropriateness of management strategies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and the level of disturbances in daily activities reported by the general population.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study used Korea Community Health Survey conducted from August to November 2020. Public perception of COVID-19 management strategies included those implemented by the government (central, city or provincial, and administrative districts), the mass media, regional medical institutions, and neighbors. The subjective level of disturbances in daily activities was measured using a 0-100 numeric rating scale developed by Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Multivariable linear regression analysis was used. A subgroup analysis was conducted based on education level.

RESULTS

The present study analyzed 211,353 participants. Compared to individuals who perceived that the management strategies implemented during the pandemic was 'highly appropriate,' those who reported 'mediocre appropriateness' (β: -1.96, p-value: <0.001) or 'low appropriateness' (β: -3.60, p-value: 0.010) reported higher levels of subjective disturbances. The appropriateness of measures implemented by the mass media was associated with levels of subjective disturbances felt by individuals of lower education with statistical significance, whereas that applied by the mass media and the government were important in those with higher education.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest the importance of public perception of management strategies when implementing containment policies and minimizing its disturbances on daily lives is essential.

Public interest in different types of masks and its relationship with pandemic and policy measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: a study using Google Trends data

Google Trends data have been used to investigate various themes on online information seeking. It was unclear if the population from different parts of the world shared the same amount of attention to different mask types during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to reveal which types of masks were frequently searched by the public in different countries, and evaluated if public attention to masks could be related to mandatory policy, stringency of the policy, and transmission rate of COVID-19. By referring to an open dataset hosted at the online database Our World in Data, the 10 countries with the highest total number of COVID-19 cases as of 9th of February 2022 were identified. For each of these countries, the weekly new cases per million population, reproduction rate (of COVID-19), stringency index, and face covering policy score were computed from the raw daily data. Google Trends were queried to extract the relative search volume (RSV) for different types of masks from each of these countries. Results found that Google searches for N95 masks were predominant in India, whereas surgical masks were predominant in Russia, FFP2 masks were predominant in Spain, and cloth masks were predominant in both France and United Kingdom. The United States, Brazil, Germany, and Turkey had two predominant types of mask. The online searching behavior for masks markedly varied across countries. For most of the surveyed countries, the online searching for masks peaked during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic before the government implemented mandatory mask wearing. The search for masks positively correlated with the government response stringency index but not with the COVID-19 reproduction rate or the new cases per million.

Perceived barriers and facilitators for adhering to COVID-19 preventive measures in Chile: a qualitative study in three large cities

BACKGROUND

Globally, it has been reported that different social determinants of health -structural, sociodemographic, economic, living conditions and cultural factors- may affect opportunities to adhere to prevention measures against SARS-CoV-2. The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions around barriers and facilitators for adherence to COVID-19 prevention measures among the adult population residing in three large cities in Chile from a social determinants of health perspective.

METHODS

Qualitative paradigm, multiple case-study design. Online semi-structured interviews were conducted with men and women aged 18 and over from different socioeconomic groups residing in three large cities. For participant recruitment and selection, purposive contacts were made based on community and social media networks, followed by snowball sampling. Saturation was reached at 61 participants, after which a thematic analysis was carried out with the support of AtlasTi software. The Ethics Committee of the Universidad del Desarrollo in Chile approved this study.

RESULTS

The main perceived barriers to adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures are linked to structural social determinants of health such as income, occupation, gender, access to basic supplies, and housing. Perceived facilitators are the fear of contagion and the incorporation of measures into daily habits. The social communication of preventive measures by health authorities is perceived as punitive, affecting adherence once the fear of contagion decreased in the country. It is also perceived that the recommended preventive measures are disconnected from communities' cultural practices and people´s identity, as well as affected by gender inequities and socioeconomic conditions that stakeholders in the country do not sufficiently address.

CONCLUSION

Study findings suggest that adherence to preventive measures, such as social distancing, mask use, and hand washing, could be promoted through their incorporation into the daily life habits of people and communities. These measures should consider the structural social determinants that generate multiple barriers to adherence, like poverty, occupational risks, and overcrowding. Socio-cultural dimensions of health and everyday risks need further understanding among the different communities in the country, allowing for differences in viewpoints and practices based on gender, age, place, and social identity.

Improving Voluntary Compliance through Problem-Oriented Governance: A Case Study of South Korea's Efforts to Increase the COVID-19 Vaccination Rate

Drawing on the literature of problem-oriented governance (POG) and social motivation for voluntary compliance, this study discusses how South Korea's efforts to cultivate distributed cognitions and build core capabilities of POG-reflective improvement, collaborative, and data analytic capabilities-contribute to the citizens' voluntary compliance with the current vaccination policy by improving trust and confidence. A systematic content analysis and documentation review of relevant policies, situation reports, after-action reports, official briefings, and news articles provide significant implications for both theories and practices of policy compliance and governance for effective and efficient management of many wicked problems like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Protective and Overprotective Behaviors against COVID-19 Outbreak: Media Impact and Mediating Roles of Institutional Trust and Anxiety

This study aims to explore how pandemic-related media use relates to both protective and overprotective behaviors and to probe the underlying mechanisms. The data were collected online during the early outbreak of COVID-19 in China, and a total of 1118 valid cases, which covered the 30 provincial administrative divisions in mainland China, were collected. Results showed that official government media use was positively associated with protective behaviors and institutional trust was an important mediator. Commercial media use was also found to be positively associated with overprotective behavior, and anxiety mediated this relationship. Findings of this study suggested that different media sources could play completely different roles. Institutional trust in government institutions and medical care systems were equally critical in translating the media effect into public compliance with the preventive measures advocated by the relevant departments. Media outlets and practitioners should also be responsible in order to avoid causing unnecessary anxiety among the public so as to reduce irrational overprotective behaviors.

Growing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: The interplay among transformational leadership in government, public trust, and posttraumatic growth

Individuals may experience positive changes or gain growths after struggling with traumas or challenging circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to assess potential levels of posttraumatic growth (PTG) of the general public during the COVID-19 pandemic and PTG's associations with perceptions of transformational leadership in local government and public trust. The data of a probability sample of 1011 community-dwelling adults (61.2% females; Mean age = 41.2 years, SD = 15.8) in Macao, China, were collected via a telephone poll survey. Multiple regression analyses were conducted and a bootstrapping approach was utilized to test the hypothesized moderating effects and mediating effects of trust in local government on the association between perceived transformational leadership and PTG, respectively. Results showed that about half of the respondents reported at least a medium level of PTG. Whereas perceived transformational leadership in the Macao local government was positively associated with four individual aspects of PTG (i.e., appreciation of life, new possibilities, personal strength, and relating to others) as well as the overall PTG, while controlling for the demographic variables, trust in the local government showed no moderating or mediating effects in these associations. Our findings suggest the value of governments’ transformational leadership in promoting people's PTG in the face of public crises such as COVID-19. More transformational leadership behaviors, such as attending to citizens’ personal needs and conveying an inspirational vision, in government are called for to bring about greater positive responses from individuals and ensure social vitality and resilience during this long-term public health battle.

Modeling mobility, risk, and pandemic severity during the first year of COVID

During the COVID-19 pandemic, most US states have taken measures of varying strength, enforcing social and physical distancing in the interest of public safety. These measures have enabled counties and states, with varying success, to slow down the propagation and mortality of the disease by matching the propagation rate to the capacity of medical facilities. However, each state's government was making its decisions based on limited information and without the benefit of being able to look retrospectively at the problem at large and to analyze the commonalities and the differences among the states and the counties across the country. We developed models connecting people's mobility, socioeconomic, and demographic factors with severity of the COVID pandemic in the US at the County level. These models can be used to inform policymakers and other stakeholders on measures to be taken during a pandemic. They also enable in-depth analysis of factors affecting the relationship between mobility and the severity of the disease. With the exception of one model, that of COVID recovery time, the resulting models accurately predict the vulnerability and severity metrics and rank the explanatory variables in the order of statistical importance. We also analyze and explain why recovery time did not allow for a good model.

Stepping into the shoes of the policy maker: Results of a Participatory Value Evaluation for the Dutch long term COVID-19 strategy

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 outbreak early 2020 was followed by an unprecedented package of measures. The relative calmness of the pandemic early 2022 provides a momentum to prepare for various scenarios.

OBJECTIVES

As acceptance of COVID-19 measures is key for public support we investigated citizens' preferences towards imposing measures in four scenarios: 1) spring/summer scenario with few hospitalizations; 2) autumn/winter scenario with many hospitalizations; 3) a new contagious variant, the impact on hospitalizations is unclear; 4) a new contagious variant, hospitalizations will substantially increase.

METHODS

Study 1 comprised a Participatory Value Evaluation (PVE) in which 2011 respondents advised their government on which measures to impose in the four scenarios. Respondents received information regarding the impact of each measure on the risk that the health system would be overloaded. To triangulate the results, 2958 respondents in Study 2 evaluated the acceptability of the measures in each scenario.

RESULTS

Measures were ranked similarly by respondents in Study 1 and 2: 1) the majority of respondents thought that hygiene measures should be upheld, even in the spring/summer; 2) the majority supported booster vaccination, working from home, encouraging self-testing, and mandatory face masks from scenario 2 onwards; 3) even in scenario 4, lockdown measures were not supported by the majority. Young respondents were willing to accept more risks for the health system than older respondents.

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that policies that focus on prevention (through advising low-impact hygiene measures) and early response to moderate threats (by scaling up to moderately restrictive measures and boostering) can count on substantial support. There is low support for lockdown measures even under high-risk conditions, which further emphasizes the importance of prevention and a timely response to new threats. Our results imply that young citizens' concerns, in particular, should be addressed when restrictive COVID-19 measures are to be implemented.

Count on trust: the indirect effect of trust in government on policy compliance with health behavior instructions

Trust in government is considered a prominent factor for enhancing public compliance with government policies and instructions. The Coronavirus pandemic demonstrates the crucial role public compliance with governmentally issued health guidelines has in mitigating the pandemic. However, the mechanism explaining the trust-compliance association, particularly in regard to health-behavior compliance, is unclear. This article develops a new theoretical model, the Mediated Trust Model (MTM), for explaining the relationship between trust in government and public compliance with health instructions. The model extends the classic Health Belief Model for predicting health behavior by claiming that the perceptions regarding the instructions' costs, benefits and one's ability to perform them are affected by trust in government and mediate the trust-compliance association. The MTM was tested in four cross-sectional studies performed during the first 20 months of the Coronavirus pandemic in Israel on 3732 participants, for various health instructions. Implications for public health literature, policy compliance theory and policy makers are discussed.

Conspiratorial thinking as a precursor to opposition to COVID-19 vaccination in the US: a multi-year study from 2018 to 2021

Despite widespread availability of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines in the US, only about 66% of the eligible US population had taken the recommended initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccines as of April 2022. Explanations for this hesitancy have focused on misinformation about the vaccines, lack of trust in health authorities, and acceptance of conspiracy theories about the pandemic. Here we test whether those with a conspiratorial mindset, which distrusts a wide range of institutions, were poised to reject COVID vaccines before the pandemic even began. To answer that question, we reinterviewed members of a national US panel that we had previously surveyed beginning in 2018. As hypothesized, having a conspiratorial mindset in 2019 predicted COVID-vaccination hesitancy in 2021 better than prior trust in health authorities or acceptance of vaccine misinformation. Those with the mindset were also more likely to consume media that bolstered belief in pandemic conspiracies. Research is needed on the determinants of conspiratorial mindset and ways to minimize the likelihood that consequential health decisions will be influenced by it.

Political stringency, infection rates, and higher education students' adherence to government measures in the Nordic countries and the UK during the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak

Understanding predictors of adherence to governmental measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 is fundamental to guide health communication. This study examined whether political stringency and infection rates during the first wave of the pandemic were associated with higher education students' adherence to COVID-19 government measures in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, and Sweden) and the United Kingdom. Both individual- and country-level data were used in present study. An international cross-sectional subsample (n = 10,345) of higher-education students was conducted in May-June 2020 to collect individual-level information on socio-demographics, study information, living arrangements, health behaviors, stress, and COVID-19-related concerns, including adherence to government measures. Country-level data on political stringency from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker and national infection rates were added to individual-level data. Multiple linear regression analyses stratified by country were conducted. Around 66% of students reported adhering to government measures, with the highest adherence in the UK (73%) followed by Iceland (72%), Denmark (69%), Norway (67%), Finland (64%) and Sweden (49%). Main predictors for higher adherence were older age, being female and being worried about getting infected with COVID-19 (individual-level), an increase in number of days since lockdown, political stringency, and information about COVID-19 mortality rates (country-level). However, incidence rate was an inconsistent predictor, which may be explained by imperfect data quality during the onset of the pandemic. We conclude that shorter lockdown periods and political stringency are associated with adherence to government measures among higher education students at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I can't do it": A qualitative study exploring case and contact experiences with COVID-19 contact tracing

BACKGROUND

Low engagement in contact tracing for COVID-19 dramatically reduces its impact, but little is known about how experiences, environments and characteristics of cases and contacts influence engagement.

METHODS

We recruited a convenience sample of COVID-19 cases and contacts from the New Haven Health Department's contact tracing program for interviews about their contact tracing experiences. We analyzed transcripts thematically, organized themes using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, Behavior (COM-B) model, and identified candidate interventions using the linked Behavior Change Wheel Framework.

RESULTS

We interviewed 21 cases and 12 contacts. Many felt physically or psychologically incapable of contact tracing participation due to symptoms or uncertainty about protocols. Environmental factors and social contacts also influenced engagement. Finally, physical symptoms, emotions and low trust in and expectations of public health authorities influenced motivation to participate.

CONCLUSION

To improve contact tracing uptake, programs should respond to clients' physical and emotional needs; increase clarity of public communications; address structural and social factors that shape behaviors and opportunities; and establish and maintain trust. We identify multiple potential interventions that may help achieve these goals.

Development and cross-national investigation of a model explaining participation in WHO-recommended and placebo behaviours to prevent COVID-19 infection

To protect themselves from COVID-19, people follow the recommendations of the authorities, but they also resort to placebos. To stop the virus, it is important to understand the factors underlying both types of preventive behaviour. This study examined whether our model (developed based on the Health Belief Model and the Transactional Model of Stress) can explain participation in WHO-recommended and placebo actions during the pandemic. Model was tested on a sample of 3346 participants from Italy, Japan, Poland, Korea, Sweden, and the US. It was broadly supported: objective risk and cues to action showed both direct and indirect (through perceived threat) associations with preventive behaviours. Moreover, locus of control, decision balance, health anxiety and preventive coping moderated these relationships. Numerous differences were also found between countries. We conclude that beliefs about control over health and perceived benefits of actions are critical to the development of interventions to improve adherence to recommendations.

Comparing coronavirus (COVID-19) and climate change perceptions: Implications for support for individual and collective-level policies

COVID-19 (coronavirus) and climate change are both global issues that have wide-reaching and serious consequences for human health, the economy, and social outcomes for populations around the world, and both require a combination of systemic governmental policies and community support for action. This paper compares people's responses to the coronavirus pandemic and climate change in the United Kingdom (UK). A representative survey of the UK population (n = 1,518) conducted in November and December 2020 explored public perceptions of (a) personal and government responsibility, (b) efficacy and trust, and (c) support for policies to address the two issues. The results show that, while there are a number of similarities between coronavirus and climate change, major differences exist regarding individual action. In comparison to the coronavirus pandemic, people feel less personal responsibility, think that their own personal actions are less efficacious, and express lower levels of support for (in particular individual-level) policies to address climate change. These findings suggest that experiences from the coronavirus pandemic cannot directly be translated to climate change, and thus that climate change is likely to require different policy responses and framing.

Human Respiratory Infections in Nigeria: Influenza and the Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

The increasing outbreak of zoonotic diseases presents challenging times for nations and calls for a renewed effort to disrupt the chain of events that precede it. Nigeria's response to the 2006 bird flu provided a platform for outbreak response, yet it was not its first experience with Influenza. This study describes the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on Influenza surveillance and, conversely, while the 1918 Influenza pandemic remains the most devastating (500,000 deaths in 18 million population) in Nigeria, the emergence of SARS CoV-2 presented renewed opportunities for the development of vaccines with novel technology, co-infection studies outcome, and challenges globally. Although the public health Intervention and strategies left some positive outcomes for other viruses, Nigeria and Africa's preparation against the next pandemic may involve prioritizing a combination of technology, socioeconomic growth, and active surveillance in the spirit of One Health.

Corruption, public trust and medical autonomy in the public health sector of Montenegro: Taking stock of the COVID-19 influence

In this paper, we analyze the influence of corruption perception, experiences of corruptive behavior, and healthcare autonomy on the public trust in Montenegrin healthcare, by surveying the general population before and after the global COVID-19 pandemic. By providing a quasi-replication of a previous empirical study of corruption and trust in the Croatian public healthcare sector, we introduce the COVID-19 pandemic as a new research context. Before the pandemic, we found a consistent and significant negative influence of the corruptive practices and the generally perceived level of corruption (corruption salience) on the trust in public healthcare. The emergence of COVID-19 had mixed effects: while there is a slightly higher effect of corruption salience to the preference of public healthcare, corruptive experiences still matter but are tolerated much higher than before the pandemic. Public assessment of the autonomy of the health system increases preference for public healthcare, both before and after the pandemic, although the emergence of COVID-19 somewhat lowers this effect. The obtained results point to the most significant challenges of the ‘post-COVID-19’ social context to public health policymaking and management of public healthcare institutions. These include focusing the public healthcare reforms on corruption, reducing waiting times for different diagnostics and medical procedures in the public healthcare system, and regulating the ‘dual practice’ (simultaneous work in public and private healthcare institutions).

Face mask use during the COVID-19 pandemic: how risk perception, experience with COVID-19, and attitude towards government interact with country-wide policy stringency

BACKGROUND

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, governments imposed numerous regulations to protect public health, particularly the (mandatory) use of face masks. However, the appropriateness and effectiveness of face mask regulations have been widely discussed, as is apparent from the divergent measures taken across and within countries over time, including mandating, recommending, and discouraging their use. In this study, we analyse how country-level policy stringency and individual-level predictors associate with face mask use during the early stages of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

METHOD

First, we study how (self and other-related) risk perception, (direct and indirect) experience with COVID-19, attitude towards government and policy stringency shape face mask use. Second, we study whether there is an interaction between policy stringency and the individual-level variables. We conduct multilevel analyses exploiting variation in face mask regulations across countries and using data from approximately 7000 students collected in the beginning of the pandemic (weeks 17 through 19, 2020).

RESULTS

We show that policy stringency is strongly positively associated with face mask use. We find a positive association between self-related risk perception and mask use, but no relationship of mask use with experience with COVID-19 and attitudes towards government. However, in the interaction analyses, we find that government trust and perceived clarity of communication moderate the link between stringency and mask use, with positive government perceptions relating to higher use in countries with regulations and to lower use in countries without regulations.

CONCLUSIONS

We highlight that those countries that aim for widespread use of face masks should set strict measures, stress self-related risks of COVID-19, and use clear communication.

Perceived coronavirus health risk associated with students' life satisfaction: the role of trust in government policies

This study investigates whether trust in government policies has a mediation effect between the students' perception of COVID-19 health risk and their life satisfaction. In order to test the mediation effect, this study utilizes data collected from undergraduate students at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico by means of online survey. The survey yielded 95 usable data out of 97. The valid results were tested via generalized linear model (GLM) Mediation approach for the mediation. Empirical findings of Delta method affirm the mediation (estimate = 0.4445, β = 0.474, z = 3.699, p < .001) role of trust in government as a mediator between students' perception of COVID-19 health risk and their life satisfaction. In other words, Mexican undergraduate students are of the view that trusting government plays a crucial role as a mediator between their perception of coronavirus health risk and life satisfaction. These findings may guide the governments' policy making efforts and motivate them to support their initiatives with trust-building efforts.

Mapping the research landscape of Covid-19 from social sciences perspective: a bibliometric analysis

COVID-19 has emerged as a widely researched topic and the academia has taken interest in the effects of COVID-19 in various sectors of human life and society. Most of the bibliometric research addresses scientific contributions in medicine, health, and virology related topics, with very little emphasis on social sciences. Therefore, to address this gap, a bibliometric analysis of research related to COVID-19 in the subject area of social sciences was performed on selected publications from January 2020 to mid-2021. A total of 9289 articles were analysed to identify major emerging themes of Covid-19 and social sciences and how research collaborations between countries have helped in communicating critical issues to academia. The empirical results indicate the dominance of psychology and business economics subjects in the social sciences sphere, with the emerging themes as psychosocial problems among people, economics, the outbreak of SARS, and discussions on the quality of life in terms of surroundings and environment. The study also suggests that more collaborations between social scientists working in different nations is required to explore the less focussed themes addressing the local challenges of poor nations.

Association between democratic governance and excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational study

BACKGROUND

Excess mortality has been used to assess the overall health impact of COVID-19 across countries. Democracies aim to build trust in government and enable checks and balances on decision making, which may be useful in a pandemic. But during the pandemic, they have been criticised as being hesitant to enforce restrictive public health measures.

METHODS

Through linking open-access datasets we constructed univariable and multivariable linear regression models investigating the association between country V-Dem Liberal Democracy Indices (LDI), representing strength of democratic governance and excess mortality rates, from January 2020 to September 2021. We adjusted for several important confounders and conducted a range of sensitivity analyses to assess the robustness of our findings.

RESULTS

Across 78 countries, 4.19 million deaths million excess deaths were recorded. On multivariable regression, a one-point increase in V-Dem LDI was associated with a decrease in excess mortality of 2.18 per 100 000 (p=0.004), after accounting for age, gender, wealth and universal health coverage. This association was only partially attenuated by COVID-19 vaccination rates and remained robust in all sensitivity analyses.

CONCLUSIONS

Democratic governance may have played an important role in mitigating the overall health impact of COVID-19 across countries. This study strengthens the case to broaden the scope of traditional pandemic risk assessment and discussions on preparedness.

Trust in Institutions, Not in Political Leaders, Determines Compliance in COVID-19 Prevention Measures within Societies across the Globe

A core assumption often heard in public health discourse is that increasing trust in national political leaders is essential for securing public health compliance during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic (2019-ongoing). However, studies of national government trust are typically too coarse-grained to differentiate between trust in institutions versus more interpersonal trust in political leaders. Here, we present multiscale trust measurements for twelve countries and territories across the West, Oceania and East Asia. These trust results were used to identify which specific domains of government and social trust were most crucial for securing public health compliance (frequency of mask wearing and social distancing) and understanding the reasons for following health measures (belief in effectiveness of public health measures). Through the use of linear regression and structural equation modeling, our cross-cultural survey-based analysis (N = 3369 subjects) revealed that higher trust in national and local public health institutions was a universally consistent predictor of public health compliance, while trust in national political leaders was not predictive of compliance across cultures and geographical regions. Institutional trust was mediated by multiple types of transparency, including providing rationale, securing public feedback, and honestly expressing uncertainty. These results highlight the importance of distinguishing between components of government trust, to better understand which entities the public gives the most attention to during crises.

Better than my neighbor? Testing for overconfidence in COVID-19 preventive behaviors in Latin America

Background

Procrastination and lack of attention may often hinder the implementation of preemptive actions necessary to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 like washing hands, covering nose and mouth with a mask, and keeping social distance. It is in such “easy” tasks that people (mistakenly) believe that they are better than others. In this paper we test for overconfidence bias in COVID-19 preventive behaviors in Latin America.

Methods

Using a phone survey in nationally representative samples from 10 Latin American countries where randomly, half of the sample in each country was asked about self-reported compliance to COVID-19 guidelines, and half about preventive behavior of fellow citizens compared to them; we tested: if the proportion of individuals claiming that others comply with a certain measure “Always more frequent than me” is higher than those stating that they “Never” or “Sometimes” comply with the same measure (i.e. people believe they are better at doing something than what they actually are).

Results

Over 90% of Latin-Americans claim to always wear a mask and sanitize their hands and more than 80% state to always keep social distance. We also find evidence of overconfidence in every behavior – except for keeping distance in public transportation. Moreover, the magnitude of such overconfidence is higher for behaviors such as wearing masks in public or washing hands than for those regarding keeping the 2-m distance.

Conclusions

To our knowledge, this is the first study to measure overconfidence in COVID-19 preventive behaviors in Latin America. Results show that more effort is needed to encourage people to comply with the regulation when it does not only depend on them: a better organization of closed stores and public transportation are, for instance, crucial to allow social distancing. It also suggests that a reinforcement of basic measures is essential, as individuals report to be performing them more frequently than when they have to think about such behaviors compared to others.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-13311-9.

How has public perception of food safety and health risks changed a year after the pandemic and vaccines roll out?

The recent coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has caused unprecedented turmoil and spurred fears that have profoundly changed the public's social and health behaviours, including the perception of food safety risks. One year after the pandemic and the global vaccination campaign, the public perception of food safety and the changes in their hygiene behaviour, health risks concerns, and trust were studied in Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia using a cross-sectional online survey. The results of 538 subjects showed a rise in the frequency of hygiene practices, notably in handwashing. Sixty-four percent of the participants were vaccinated, a proportion made up mainly of the Jordanians and Lebanese. For 66% and 64% of the two population groups, respectively, there were no longer trust concerns about COVID-19 health risks following vaccination, whereas the worries about getting COVID-19 persisted for others. Only 47% of participants trusted eating food prepared by vaccinated food handlers. A great majority of the Tunisians (81%) showed varying degrees of concern about COVID-19 transmission from food and the lowest vaccination rate (33%). The current study demonstrated that the impact of vaccination policy positively affects public perception of food-related risks during the pandemic. On the other hand, 33% of the surveyed Jordanians and Tunisians lost trust in the health authorities' management of the pandemic, and 45% of the Lebanese still don't trust them. Communication strategies on health and food safety with the public still represent a challenge for these and probably other countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Strategies for building and maintaining public trust are crucial to curb persistent fear of food, hence, avoiding potential stigmatization affecting the food economy by promoting health awareness and positive changes in food safety perceptions for safer practices.

Public health guideline compliance and perceived government effectiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada: Findings from a longitudinal cohort study

BACKGROUND

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has imposed enormous adversity worldwide. Public health guidelines have been a first line of defense but rely on compliance with evolving recommendations and restrictions. This study sought to characterize adherence to and perceptions of public health guidelines over a one-year timeframe during the pandemic.

METHODS

Participants were 1435 community adults in Ontario who completed assessments at five time points (April 2020, July 2020, October 2020, January 2021, and April 2021; 92% retention). Participants were assessed for self-reported adherence to government protocols and perceptions of government response (importance, compliance, and effectiveness). Analyses used general linear mixed-effects modelling of overall changes by time and examined differences based on age and sex.

FINDINGS

Over time, participants reported high or increasing behavioural engagement in public health guidelines, including physical distancing, restricting activity, and masking. In contrast, participants exhibited significant reductions in perceived importance and compliance, with evidence of more negative changes in younger participants. The largest changes were a substantial reduction in perceived government effectiveness, from predominantly positive perceptions to predominantly negative perceptions.

INTERPRETATION

These results illuminate evolving trends in public health compliance and perceptions over the course of the pandemic in Canada, revealing the malleability of public perceptions of public health recommendations and government effectiveness.

FUNDING

This research was funded by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). CIHR had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation, or writing of the report.

To Trust or Not to Trust? COVID-19 Facemasks in China–Europe Relations: Lessons from France and the United Kingdom

At the crossroads of sociology and international relations, this interdisciplinary and comparative research article explores how the COVID-19 outbreak has impacted China–Europe relations. Unfolding the critical moments of the COVID-19 outbreak, this article characterizes the evolution of China–Europe relations with regard to the facemask. This simple object of self-protection against the coronavirus strikingly became a source of contention between peoples and states. In the face of this situation, we argue that the facemask is the prism through which to illustrate (1) the transnational links between China and its overseas population, (2) the changing social perceptions of China and Chinese-looking people in European societies, and (3) the advent of China’s health diplomacy and its reception in Europe. Comparing two European settings—France and the United Kingdom (UK)—the common denominator appears to be the reduced trust, if not outright distrust, between individuals and communities in the French and British contexts, and in Sino–French and Sino–British relations at the transnational level. Combining critical juncture theory and (dis)trust in international relations as our analytical framework, this article examines how the facemask became a politicized object, both between states and between Mainland China and its overseas population, as the epidemic unfolded throughout Europe. Adopting a qualitative approach, our dataset comprises the analysis of official speeches and statements; press releases; traditional and social media content (especially through hashtags such as #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus, #IAmNotAVirus, #CoronaRacism, etc.); and interviews with Chinese, French, and British community members.

"We want to live a little longer and our family want[s] us around": A summative content analysis of adherence to COVID-19-related guidelines using the Theoretical Domains Framework

Objective

Public adherence to COVID‐19‐related government guidance varied during the initial lockdown in the UK, but the determinants of public adherence to such guidance are unclear. We capture spontaneous reflections on adherence to UK government guidance from a representative UK sample, and use the TDF to identify key determinants of COVID‐related behaviours.

Design

The design was cross‐sectional.

Methods

Qualitative data were collected from a large sample of UK adults (N = 2,252) via an online questionnaire as part of a wider survey about the UK public’s responses to the government’s COVID‐19‐related guidance. Summative content analysis was used to identify key guideline terms in the data, followed by latent analysis to interpret the underlying meanings behind the terms using the TDF as an analytical framework.

Results

Six TDF domains were identified in the data: Environmental Context and Resources; Beliefs about Consequences; Social Influences; Memory, Attention and Decision Processes; Emotion; and Knowledge. Although the samples were motivated and capable of adhering, limitations in their environments, resources, and social support mechanisms restricted behaviour. Self‐reported adherence was sensitive to positive and negative beliefs about the effectiveness of the measures, in addition to interpretations of the terms ‘essential’ and ‘necessary’ in the guidance.

Conclusions

Despite extensive structural obstacles to adherence, the majority of the British public were able to follow government COVID‐19‐related instructions, provided they had sufficient resources, social support, and positive perceptions about the effectiveness of the measures. Ambiguities surrounding key terminology in the guidance left room for interpretation, which may have contributed to non‐adherence.

Health communication in and out of public health emergencies: to persuade or to inform?

Much health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic has been designed to persuade people more than to inform them. For example, messages like "masks save lives" are intended to compel people to wear face masks, not to enable them to make an informed decision about whether to wear a face mask or to understand the justification for a mask mandate. Both persuading people and informing them are reasonable goals for health communication. However, those goals can sometimes be in conflict. In this article, we discuss potential conflicts between seeking to persuade or to inform people, the use of spin to persuade people, the ethics of persuasion, and implications for health communication in the context of the pandemic and generally. Decisions to persuade people rather than enable them to make an informed choice may be justified, but the basis for those decisions should be transparent and the evidence should not be distorted. We suggest nine principles to guide decisions by health authorities about whether to try to persuade people.

Light and Dark core of personality and the adherence to COVID-19 containment measures: The roles of motivation and trust in government

The present study investigated the relationship between the Light and Dark Core of personality and self-reported adherence to COVID-19 containment measures. A gender-balanced representative sample of 600 Slovaks participated in the study. We formulated a mediation model, hypothesising that the relationship between Light and Dark Core and self-reported adherence is mediated by the motivation to comply with the measures. The results of structural equation modelling showed that self-reported adherence was positively related to the Light Core and this relationship was also mediated by motivation. The Dark Core, in turn, showed a negative relationship with the adherence, while no mediation was found. Importantly, the findings of both Light and Dark Core models remained robust after including trust in government. The present study contributes to theory by providing first results corroborating the existence of Light Core of personality. The findings of this study can also help to better shape the communications about containment measures to address both individuals with high levels of benevolent and malevolent traits.

How are you holding up? Personality, cognitive and social predictors of a perceived shift in subjective well-being during COVID-19 pandemic

While well-being is known to be mainly predicted by relatively stable personality traits and demographic factors, under circumstances of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the role of these predictors may be attenuated, and more situational factors may come into play. In the present study, we examined those relatively stable predictors of well-being along with COVID-19 specific factors, such as the perception of health and economic threat, unrealistic optimism, lack of control, trust in government regulations, and the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs. The data collection took place in early November 2020, when the second wave in Slovakia started to gain momentum and a strict lockdown was issued. Slovak adults (N = 1020) reported their current positive and negative affect and current, as well as estimated pre-pandemic and predicted future life satisfaction. The results showed that positive and negative affect was predicted mainly by extraversion and negative emotionality. On the other hand, life satisfaction, and its perceived change from before the pandemic and in three months, was predicted mainly by COVID-19 factors, especially perceived economic threat, unrealistic optimism, and trust in governmental regulations. We discuss the importance of these factors when considering the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on peoples' well-being.

Associations between adverse childhood experiences, attitudes towards COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine hesitancy: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can affect life-course health and well-being, including risk-taking behaviour and trust. This study explored associations between ACEs and trust in health information on COVID-19, attitudes towards and compliance with COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine hesitancy.

DESIGN

National cross-sectional telephone survey using a sample of landline and mobile numbers stratified by Health Board, deprivation quintile and age group.

SETTING

Households in Wales during national COVID-19 restrictions (December 2020 to March 2021).

PARTICIPANTS

2285 Welsh residents aged ≥18 years.

MEASURES

Nine ACEs; low trust in National Health Service (NHS) COVID-19 information; supporting removal of social distancing and mandatory face coverings; breaking COVID-19 restrictions; and vaccine hesitancy (rejection or uncertainty of vaccination).

RESULTS

Increasing ACE counts were independently related to low trust in NHS COVID-19 information, feeling unfairly restricted by government and ending mandatory face coverings. High ACE counts (4+ vs 0 ACEs) were also associated with supporting removal of social distancing. Breaking COVID-19 restrictions increased with ACE count with likelihood doubling from no ACEs to 4+ ACEs. Vaccine hesitancy was threefold higher with 4+ ACEs (vs 0 ACEs) and higher in younger age groups. Thus, modelled estimates of vaccine hesitancy ranged from 3.42% with no ACEs, aged ≥70 years, to 38.06% with 4+ ACEs, aged 18-29 years.

CONCLUSIONS

ACEs are common across populations of many countries. Understanding how they impact trust in health advice and uptake of medical interventions could play a critical role in the continuing response to COVID-19 and controlling future pandemics. Individuals with ACEs suffer greater health risks throughout life and may also be excluded from interventions that reduce infection risks. While pandemic responses should consider how best to reach those suffering from ACEs, longer term, better compliance with public health advice is another reason to invest in safe and secure childhoods for all children.

The social media response to twice-weekly mass asymptomatic testing in England

BACKGROUND

From 9th April 2021, everyone in England has been encouraged to take two COVID-19 tests per week. This is the first time that national mass asymptomatic testing has been introduced in the UK and the effectiveness of the policy depends on uptake with testing and willingness to self-isolate following a positive test result. This paper examines attitudes towards twice-weekly testing, as well as barriers and facilitators to engaging in testing.

METHODS

Between 5th April and 28th May 2021 we searched Twitter, Facebook, and online news articles with publicly available comment sections to identify comments relating to twice-weekly testing. We identified 5783 comments which were then analysed using a framework analysis.

RESULTS

We identified nine main themes. Five themes related to barriers to engaging in testing: low perceived risk from COVID-19; mistrust in the government; concern about taking a test; perceived ineffectiveness of twice-weekly testing policy; and perceived negative impact of twice-weekly testing policy. Four themes related to facilitators to engaging in testing: wanting to protect others; positive perceptions of tests; a desire to return to normal; and perceived efficacy for reducing asymptomatic transmission.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, the comments identified indicated predominately negative attitudes towards the twice weekly testing policy. Several recommendations can be made to improve engagement with twice weekly testing, including: 1) communicate openly and honestly about the purpose of testing; 2) provide information about the accuracy of tests; 3) provide financial support for those required to self-isolate, and; 4) emphasise accessibility of testing.

Government-sponsored disinformation and the severity of respiratory infection epidemics including COVID-19: A global analysis, 2001–2020

Internet misinformation and government-sponsored disinformation campaigns have been criticized for their presumed/hypothesized role in worsening the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We hypothesize that these government-sponsored disinformation campaigns have been positively associated with infectious disease epidemics, including COVID-19, over the last two decades. By integrating global surveys from the Digital Society Project, Global Burden of Disease, and other data sources across 149 countries for the period 2001–2019, we examined the association between government-sponsored disinformation and the spread of respiratory infections before the COVID-19 outbreak. Then, building on those results, we applied a negative binomial regression model to estimate the associations between government-sponsored disinformation and the confirmed cases and deaths related to COVID-19 during the first 300 days of the outbreak in each country and before vaccination began. After controlling for climatic, public health, socioeconomic, and political factors, we found that government-sponsored disinformation was significantly associated with the incidence and prevalence percentages of respiratory infections in susceptible populations during the period 2001–2019. The results also show that disinformation is significantly associated with the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of cases of COVID-19. The findings imply that governments may contain the damage associated with pandemics by ending their sponsorship of disinformation campaigns.

Fatigue during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence of social distancing adherence from a panel study of young adults in Switzerland

In this paper we analyze panel data (N = 400) to investigate the change in attitudes towards the Covid-19 measures and the change in compliance behavior between the first and second lockdowns in a sample of young adults from the University of Bern, Switzerland. We find considerable fatigue. While respondents expressed high acceptance of and compliance with the Covid-19 measures during the first lockdown, both acceptance and compliance behavior decreased substantially during the second lockdown. Moreover, we show via a structural equation model that respondents' compliance behavior is largely driven by the perception of how others behave and by the acceptance of the Covid-19 measures. All other effects scrutinized e.g., individual and social risk perception, trust in politics, and pro-social orientations affect compliance behavior via the acceptance of Covid-19 measures. We also conduct two tests of causality of the estimated relation between attitudes towards the measures and social distancing behavior. The first test incorporates the effect of compliance behavior reported during the first lockdown on attitudes during the second lockdown. The second test involves estimating a first difference panel regression model of attitudes on compliance behavior. The results of both tests suggest that the effect of Covid-19 attitudes on social distancing behavior can be interpreted causally.

Characterization of non-adopters of COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions through a national cross-sectional survey to assess attitudes and behaviours

Adoption of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) remains critical to curtail the spread of COVID-19. Using self-reported adherence to NPIs in Canada, assessed through a national cross-sectional survey of 4498 respondents, we aimed to identify and characterize non-adopters of NPIs, evaluating their attitudes and behaviours to understand barriers and facilitators of adoption. A cluster analysis was used to group adopters separately from non-adopters of NPIs. Associations with sociodemographic factors, attitudes towards COVID-19 and the public health response were assessed using logistic regression models comparing non-adopters to adopters. Of the 4498 respondents, 994 (22%) were clustered as non-adopters. Sociodemographic factors significantly associated with the non-adoption cluster were: (1) being male, (2) age 18–34 years, (3) Albertans, (4) lower education level and (5) higher conservative political leaning. Participants who expressed low concern for COVID-19 and distrust towards several institutions had greater odds of being non-adopters. This information characterizes individuals at greatest odds for non-adoption of NPIs to inform targeted marketing interventions.

Perceived Trust in Public Authorities Nine Months after the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Cross-National Study

This study aimed to examine the perceived trust in information provided by public authorities and financial measures put in place to address the impact of COVID-19. Using a cross-national approach among four Western countries—the United States of America, Norway, Australia, and the United Kingdom—provides an analysis of responses related to trust and how they were associated with age group, gender, education level, employment status, size of place of residence, infection status, and social media use. When controlling for all included variables in logistic regression analyses, the likelihood of having trust in the public authorities’ information was higher for women, those with higher levels of education, and those living in urban areas. Being infected with the coronavirus, and spending more time daily on social media, were both associated with lower likelihood of reporting trust in information. Although policies implemented to respond to economic concerns varied cross-nationally, higher age, identifying as female, being employed, living in a city, no COVID-19 infection experience and lower levels of social media usage were associated with a higher likelihood of trusting in the financial measures put in place to counteract the economic effects of COVID-19.

Social Distancing and COVID-19: Factors Associated With Compliance With Social Distancing Norms in Spain

This article describes patterns of compliance with social distancing measures among the Spanish population during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It identifies several factors associated with higher or lower compliance with recommended measures of social distancing. This research is part of a 67-country study, titled the International COVID-19 study on Social & Moral Psychology, in which we use a Spanish dataset. Participants were residents in Spain aged 18 or above. The sample comprises 1,090 respondents, weighted to be representative of the Spanish population. Frequencies, correlations, bivariate analysis, and six models based on hierarchical multiple regressions were applied. The main finding is that most Spaniards are compliant with established guidelines of social distance during the pandemic (State of Alarm, before May 2020). Variables associated more with lower levels of compliance with these standards were explored. Six hierarchical multiple regression models found that compliance with social distance measures has a multifactorial explanation (R 2 between 20.4 and 49.1%). Sociodemographic factors, personal hygiene patterns, and the interaction between personal hygiene patterns and the support for political measures related to the coronavirus brought significant effects on the regression models. Less compliance was also associated with beliefs in some specific conspiracy theories with regard to COVID-19 or general conspiracy mentality (Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire, CMQ), consumption patterns of traditional mass media (television, paper newspapers, magazines, and radio) and modern means to get informed (online digital newspapers, blogs, and social networks), political ideology, vote, trust in institutions, and political identification. Among the future lines of action in preventing the possible outbreak of the virus, we suggest measures to reinforce trust in official information, mainly linked to reducing the influence of disinformation and conspiracy theories parallel to the pandemic.

COVID lessons from the global south – Face masks invading tourist beaches and recommendations for the outdoor seasons

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has been extensively used, and discarded PPE has been observed in many different environments, including on tourist beaches. Here we examined the distribution and densities of face masks on some of the main tourist beaches in Chile, and we monitored their daily accumulation rates on one beach in northern-central Chile. Face masks were found on beaches across the country with average densities of 0.006 ± 0.002 (mean ± se) face masks m⁻², which are higher than densities reported on Peruvian beaches, but lower than those on some Kenyan beaches. Face masks were also found on more remote beaches and rocky shores in northern-central Chile. Daily accumulation rates on one tourist beach were low during austral fall/winter (0.2 face masks km⁻¹ d⁻¹), but were over ten times higher during austral summer (3.0 face masks km⁻¹ d⁻¹). These values are substantially higher than daily accumulation rates reported from urban streets, which is most likely due to the high densities of beach visitors during the summer tourist season. COVID-19 related infrastructure (signposts and PPE waste bins) was present on most beaches, but while signposts about personal protection were abundant, there were few signposts about littering, and only one of the 12 beaches sampled for COVID infrastructure had a signpost that offered recommendations about the proper disposal of used face masks. Specific waste bins for PPE waste were only available at three beaches. Based on these findings it is recommended to provide sufficient PPE-related signs and waste bins, establish general and strict waste disposal regulations, and to improve enforcement. Educational campaigns should aim at recommending proper use and disposal of face masks, litter prevention, reduction of single-use waste and enhanced pro-environmental behaviors.

A look into the future of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe: an expert consultation

How will the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic develop in the coming months and years? Based on an expert survey, we examine key aspects that are likely to influence the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. The challenges and developments will strongly depend on the progress of national and global vaccination programs, the emergence and spread of variants of concern (VOCs), and public responses to non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). In the short term, many people remain unvaccinated, VOCs continue to emerge and spread, and mobility and population mixing are expected to increase. Therefore, lifting restrictions too much and too early risk another damaging wave. This challenge remains despite the reduced opportunities for transmission given vaccination progress and reduced indoor mixing in summer 2021. In autumn 2021, increased indoor activity might accelerate the spread again, whilst a necessary reintroduction of NPIs might be too slow. The incidence may strongly rise again, possibly filling intensive care units, if vaccination levels are not high enough. A moderate, adaptive level of NPIs will thus remain necessary. These epidemiological aspects combined with economic, social, and health-related consequences provide a more holistic perspective on the future of the COVID-19 pandemic.