The lockdowns in Wuhan and Shanghai represent significant turning points in China's COVID-19 policy. Initially, the containment policies received strong public support. However, as the pandemic unfolded over two years, public sentiment shifted from initial positivity to increasingly negative reactions towards the containment policy. This transition was marked by the rise of 'pandemic fatigue' and worries about the negative side effects of these public health policies. This evolution in public sentiment played a crucial role in the adaptation and transformation of health policies. These shifts underscore the imperative to monitor the impacts of public health policies on both public sentiment and mental health. This visualization, centering on these two cities, illustrates the co-evolution of China's containment policy and public sentiment, revealing the underlying public attitudes that drove China's rapid transition from stringent lockdowns and a zero-COVID-19 strategy to a comprehensive reopening.
Institute of Space and Earth Information Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Zhihang Liu