Student returnees from China's COVID-19 epicenter: Spatio-temporal movement and impact of tracing

Ding Fei; Chuan Liao; Huan Yang

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114371

Student returnees from China's COVID-19 epicenter: Spatio-temporal movement and impact of tracing

Soc Sci Med. 2021 Oct:287:114371. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114371. Epub 2021 Sep 4.

Authors

Ding Fei¹, Chuan Liao², Huan Yang³

Affiliations

¹ School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, 800 S Cady Mall, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA. Electronic address: dfei4@asu.edu.
² School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, 800 S Cady Mall, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA. Electronic address: cliao29@asu.edu.
³ Department of Public Administration, Huazhong Agricultural University, China. Electronic address: yanghuan@mail.hzau.edu.cn.

Abstract

At the initial stage of COVID-19 outbreak, tracing returnees from Wuhan - the epicenter of the disease - is a major strategy in each province of China to contain its spread. However, scholars are yet to assess the impact of tracing on individuals. Drawing upon a large-scale survey with students from four major universities in Wuhan, we investigate individual experiences with tracing activities at government and community levels and the impacts on students' socio-psychological wellbeing. Findings indicate that tracing is likely to increase the risks of privacy infringement, verbal slur, and warning at residence; and students experience moderate-to-high levels of anxiety and fear. Improved public health measures are therefore necessary to balance the twin goals of containing disease and alleviating unintended consequences of tracing.

Keywords: COVID-19; Socio-psychological impacts; Spatio-temporal movements; Tracing; Wuhan-returned students.

MeSH terms

Anxiety Disorders
COVID-19*
China / epidemiology
Humans
SARS-CoV-2
Students