What doubts, concerns and fears about COVID-19 emerged during the first wave of the pandemic?

Abstract

The control of the COVID-19 pandemic depends strongly on effective communication, which must be grounded on the population's perceptions and knowledge. We aimed to analyse the doubts, concerns and fears expressed by the Portuguese population about COVID-19. We performed a content analysis of 293 questions submitted to online, radio, newspaper and TV channel forums during the first month of the pandemic in Portugal. Most questions contained doubts (n = 230), especially on how to prevent person-to-person transmission (n = 40) and how to proceed in case of symptoms (n = 37). Concerns and fears were also very commonly expressed (n = 144), mostly about which persons could be considered vulnerable (n = 53) and how to prevent transmission during daily life or normal activities (n = 37). As the pandemic evolved and suppression measures were put in place, doubts moved to concerns of vulnerability, quarantine and social isolation, and to doubts about transmission, transmission prevention, and on how to proceed in case of symptoms. These results may inform future communication strategies for a more adequate response in the next phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as in future pandemics.