MUMBAI: Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past two months, news about the latest coronavirus epidemic has undoubtedly reached you. A SEMrush study has captured the extent of the Indian public’s awareness about coronavirus and what steps the public is taking to prevent infection.

Awareness about coronavirus has reached millions across India. SEMrush found that the number of times the word “coronavirus” was searched online grew an astounding 2.54 lakh per cent from December 2019 to January 2020. In December 2019, the term "coronavirus" was searched a mere 2,400 times, and this number spiked to a massive 61 lakh in January 2020. In February, the keyword “coronavirus" was searched 162.5 per cent more than it had been searched for in January. In India, it was searched over 1.6 crore times in February.

The words “coronavirus symptoms” were searched a massive 12.2 lakh times in January 2020 from a mere 40 in December 2019. The SEMrush study highlights that news about the coronavirus is being disseminated far and wide by the Indian media. The public is aware of the origins of the coronavirus. The third most searched for keyword related to the virus was "china virus" showing that many who don’t know the name coronavirus, know its origins lies in China.

The keywords "coronavirus disease", "coronavirus treatment", "coronavirus cause", "coronavirus infection”, “coronavirus vaccine”, “coronavirus diagnosis”, and “novel coronavirus" were the other top searched for keywords related to coronavirus.  Each keyword was searched between 1 lakh and 30k times in January. 

The public also searched for ways to prevent infection. Online searches with keyword “n95 mask”, “n95 mask price”, and “3m n95 mask” rose an astonishing 1017%, 3002%, and 1962% respectively in January compared to December. From January to February, the per cent increase in online searches for the respective masks was 122.1%, 123.9%, and 83.11%. The SEMrush study shows there was reasonable awareness about the n95 face mask before the coronavirus epidemic. The per cent increase in the keyword “n95 mask” was relatively low compared to the per cent increase for other keywords because it was searched for a considerable number of times in December.  

Other mask related keywords included “n95 respirator mask”, “n95 pollution mask”, “n95 face mask”, “medical mask”, “n95 mask uses”, “n95 mask price in India”, and “n95 mask reusable”.  Each keyword was searched between 7,500 and 700 times. Notably searches with the keywords “n95 respirator mask” increased a whopping 10400% times since December 2019.

The SEMrush study shows that in addition to buying face masks, Indians are taking other measures as well to protect themselves from coronavirus. The study found that from January to February, searches for the keywords "hand sanitizer” grew by a substantial 82.43%.

Speaking about the study Mr. Fernando Angulo, Head of Communications  SEMrush said, “Our study demonstrates that Indians actively try to protect themselves from epidemics, even when their epicentre is distant and the possibility of infection relatively low. The SEMrush study also captured data showing the kind of protective equipment Indians turn to protect themselves from airborne viruses. The n95 face mask was a relatively unknown product before the coronavirus epidemic; today, it is less so. The reason behind the massive increase in the number of times the n95 mask is being searched for is apparent; Indians concerned about the danger posed by coronavirus are scouting for the best preventative tool.

For marketers, our study has captured the media’s role in creating demand. While the coronavirus certainly needs to be safeguarded against and the media’s is playing an essential role in keeping people safe; news created by the media is more likely than ever to present marketing opportunities in India”.