In this study, based on the microblogs related to novel coronavirus pneumonia from January 9 to March 10, 2020, using topic extraction and classification models, we obtained 7 primary topics and 12 secondary topics related to COVID-19, analyzed its temporal and spatial distribution. In terms of overall distribution, the response hotspots in Wuhan, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other regions are shown, suggesting that the temporal and spatial distribution of public opinion is related to the severity of the epidemic, the degree of population aggregation, and the level of economic development. In terms of regional characteristics, capital Beijing is centered in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta took Shanghai as center, supplemented by Nanjing, Hangzhou and other hot spots, the Pearl River Delta formed Guangzhou and Shenzhen as the two cores, and Hubei Province centered on Wuhan. For time, novel coronavirus pneumonia events were found to be synchronized with the time trend of microblog. The public opinion was highly susceptible to external influence and fluctuated greatly during the epidemic. In terms of topic distribution, “Government response”, “Taking scientific protective measures” and “Blessing and praying” are the main topics, indicating that the response of Chinese people is rational and positive in the early stage of the outbreak. Donation topic is more than the help-seeking topic, showing the social common disaster response pattern of “one in trouble, assistance comes from” and national resilience. It is also found that the government response lags behind the social media, the imbalance of resource allocation caused by the sharp rise of relief information in the short term is prominent, and the response policies of various urban agglomeration areas combined with its own regional characteristics are not obvious. It is still an important topic in regional sustainable development to continuously strengthen the public opinion analysis of China and key regions in major disaster events such as public health, and to put forward accurate response and control strategies according to local conditions.
