To display accurate temporal changes in the different topics, the number of Weibo texts for each topic was counted using one-hour time intervals as shown in Figure 5. The topics of ‘events notification’, ‘popularization of prevention and treatment’, ‘personal response’, and ‘opinion and sentiments’ all climbed from January 19, reaching a peak on the 21st. The curve then steadily declined towards the 29th and rose slowly to February 1. There was a small peak on February 1, then it stabilized and reached a peak again on February 5. The topics of ‘government response’ and ‘making donations’ started to rise steadily from January 20, then declined after showing a small peak around January 26, after which it started to climb on February 4 and reached a peak on February 5. ‘Seeking help’ started to rise suddenly on January 22, showing a small peak before and after Wuhan was placed under lockdown on the 23rd, then climbing on February 4, reaching a peak on February 6, and then levelling off.
