Association of the COVID-19 pandemic with Internet Search Volumes: A Google TrendsTM Analysis

ObjectivesTo assess the association of public interest in coronavirus infections with the actual number of infected cases for selected countries across the globe.MethodsWe performed a Google TrendsTM search for “Coronavirus” and compared Relative Search Volumes (RSV) indices to the number of reported COVID-19 cases by the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) using time-lag correlation analysis.ResultsWorldwide public interest in...