Public Search Interests related to COVID-19: Insights from Google Search Trends in Bangladesh

Objective: Public response monitoring is critical to reducing COVID 19 infections and developing effective public health strategies. This study explored Google search trends to understand public responses to COVID 19 concerns in Bangladesh. Methods: We used country-level Google search trends data to examine the association between Google search terms related to COVID 19 deaths, face masks, and COVID 19 vaccines and the actual and one-week lagged actual COVID-19 death counts from February 2, 2020, to December 19, 2020, in Bangladesh. Results: Search terms related to COVID 19 deaths, face masks, and COVID 19 vaccines increased and peaked during March and April, but then began declining gradually after June 2020. The mean relative search volume for face masks (35 points) was higher than for death information (8 points) and vaccines (16 points) throughout the study period, and searching for masks peaked (100 points) during the third week of March. Search interests for death information and face masks were negatively correlated with the actual and one-week lagged actual COVID 19 death counts. Conclusion: In response to declining trends in COVID 19 related google search terms, policymakers should strengthen ongoing risk communication and preventive information dissemination programs to control and prevent COVID 19 cases and deaths.