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

Soc Sci Med . 2021 Sep 4;287:114371. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114371. Online ahead of print. Affiliations Expand 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. Item in Clipboard Ding Fei et al. Soc Sci Med. 2021. Show details Display options Display options Format Soc Sci Med . 2021 Sep 4;287:114371. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114371. Online ahead of print. 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. Item in Clipboard CiteDisplay options Display options Format 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. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Similar articles Social Distancing among Medical Students during the 2019 Coronavirus Disease Pandemic in China: Disease Awareness, Anxiety Disorder, Depression, and Behavioral Activities. Xiao H, Shu W, Li M, Li Z, Tao F, Wu X, Yu Y, Meng H, Vermund SH, Hu Y. Xiao H, et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Jul 14;17(14):5047. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17145047. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020. PMID: 32674285 Free PMC article. Psychological impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the university students in Egypt. Ghazawy ER, Ewis AA, Mahfouz EM, Khalil DM, Arafa A, Mohammed Z, Mohammed EF, Hassan EE, Abdel Hamid S, Ewis SA, Mohammed AES. Ghazawy ER, et al. Health Promot Int. 2020 Dec 25:daaa147. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daaa147. Online ahead of print. Health Promot Int. 2020. PMID: 33367587 Free PMC article. Risk Factors of Psychological Responses of Chinese University Students During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Cross-sectional Web-Based Survey Study. Zhang X, Shi X, Wang Y, Jing H, Zhai Q, Li K, Zhao D, Zhong S, Song Y, Zhang F, Bao Y. Zhang X, et al. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Jul 21;23(7):e29312. doi: 10.2196/29312. J Med Internet Res. 2021. PMID: 34156961 Free PMC article. Citizen-Centered Mobile Health Apps Collecting Individual-Level Spatial Data for Infectious Disease Management: Scoping Review. Wirth FN, Johns M, Meurers T, Prasser F. Wirth FN, et al. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020 Nov 10;8(11):e22594. doi: 10.2196/22594. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020. PMID: 33074833 Free PMC article. Review. Suicidal Ideation. Harmer B, Lee S, Duong TVH, Saadabadi A. Harmer B, et al. 2021 Aug 6. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan–. 2021 Aug 6. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan–. PMID: 33351435 Free Books & Documents. Review. [x] Cite Copy Format: Send To [x]