Figure 3 illustrates the statistical results of the percentage of first-level topics of COVID-19. ‘Opinion and sentiments’ accounted for 34.42% of all topics. ‘Popularization of prevention and treatment’ and ‘government response’ were the second and third most frequent, at 18.97% and 16.29%, respectively. The proportion of ‘events notification’ and ‘personal response’ comprised 13.94% and 12.82%, respectively. ‘Seeking help’ and ‘making donations’ then accounted for 2.01% and 1.55%, respectively.
A more in-depth analysis of the proportions of sub-topics is presented in Figure 4. ‘Staying at home and taking necessary precautions’, ‘blessing and praying’, and ‘objective comment’ were the three most widespread sub-topics, accounting for 23.26%, 20.89%, and 14.99% of texts. The proportion of ‘taking scientific protective measures’ and ‘fear and worry’ comprised 12.48% and 10.47%, respectively. This was followed by ‘condemning bad habits’ and ‘seeking medical help’, which accounted for 6.02% and 4.14%. The proportion of other sub-topics was less than 3%.
