Vulnerability to rumours during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore

INTRODUCTION@#Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many rumours have emerged. Given prior research linking rumour exposure to mental well-being, we conducted a nationwide survey to document the base rate of rumour exposure and factors associated with rumour vulnerability.@*METHODS@#Between March and July 2020, 1,237 participants were surveyed on 5 widely disseminated COVID-19 rumours (drinking water frequently could be preventive, eating garlic could be preventive, the outbreak arose because of bat soup consumption, the virus was created in an American lab, and the virus was created in a Chinese lab). For each rumour, participants reported whether they had heard, shared or believed each rumour.@*RESULTS@#Although most participants had been exposed to COVID-19 rumours, few shared or believed these. Sharing behaviours sometimes occurred in the absence of belief; however, education emerged as a protective factor for both sharing and belief.@*CONCLUSION@#Our results suggest that campaigns targeting skills associated with higher education (e.g. epistemology) may prove more effective than counter-rumour messages.

Behavioural changes during the COVID-19 pandemic: Results of a nationwide survey in Singapore

INTRODUCTION@#As part of infection control measures for COVID-19, individuals have been encouraged to adopt both preventive (such as handwashing) and avoidant behavioural changes (e.g. avoiding crowds). In this study, we examined whether demographics predicted the likelihood that a person would adopt these behaviours in Singapore.@*METHODS@#A total of 1,145 participants responded to an online survey conducted between 7 March and 21 April 2020. We collected demographic information and asked participants to report which of 17 behaviour changes they had undertaken because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Regression analyses were performed to predict the number of behavioural changes (preventive, avoidant, and total) as a function of demographics. Finally, we sought to identify predictors of persons who declared that they had not undertaken any of these measures following the outbreak.@*RESULTS@#Most participants (97%) reported at least one behavioural change on account of the pandemic, with changes increasing with the number of local COVID-19 cases (@*CONCLUSION@#Our characterisation of behavioural changes provides a baseline for public health advisories. Moving forward, health authorities can focus their efforts on encouraging segments of the population who do not readily adopt infection control measures against COVID-19.