Education the top concern for Shanghai residents amid coronavirus pandemic

People living in Shanghai are mainly concerned about education amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to online data.

Over the last two months, China’s popular interactive platform, zhidao.baidu.com, received more than 160 million visits to a Question and Answer site about the pandemic. Of the total visits, people working and living in Shanghai contributed about 8 percent.

Across the country, people were most concerned about life services, followed by government affairs, entertainment and health care, science and education, and the economy and finance.

But in Shanghai, education was the top concern, accounting for nearly one third of the total question and answers. Most topics were about the Chinese language, including idioms, ancient poems and translations of ancient Chinese prose.

With schools closed and classes online, parents are turning to the Internet to help their children find answers.

Also, people in Shanghai care less about issues related to cars, such as annual vehicle inspections, and social security, such as the reduction of social security fees.

According to zhidao, over two months, the platform had more than 650 million interactions about physical and mental health, accounting for 6 percent of the total interactions. Popular topics included sleeplessness, reactions to the normal flu and vicarious trauma.

Authorities and reputable institutions have joined with zhidao to offer professional advice and correct answers. For example, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has published nearly 200 graphics, texts and videos on prevention. Some of the contents have been translated into Farsi to be used in Iran.

The epidemic has raised people’s awareness of mental health, with a large number of question and answers about how to seek psychological help.