What South Africans are googling about Covid-19

Published Apr 3, 2020

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DURBAN - Not only is the coronavirus reshaping some areas of how we live our lives, it has also

created significant changes in both online search behaviour, as well as the type of content search engines display as a result.

Since COVID-19 hit our shores last month, online searches in South Africa for ‘coronavirus’ has increased by more than 35.9%. According to Mickey Llew

, a specialist performance marketing and SEO agency, the average search volume for ‘Dis-Chem near me'

is at an all-time high of 22 200 searches per month, while ‘pharmacy near me’ has seen a sharp increase to 40 500 per month. Searches for ‘Ampath near me’ spiked during February.

While millions are confined to their homes and the pandemic continues to spread around them, it is little surprise Google has reported a huge spike in coronavirus queries. Since the outbreak of coronavirus

was first reported in China

in December, members of the public have shared concerns about a possible pandemic. Google

has revealed the 10 most common questions asked about the virus, now known as Covid-19, including how it originated and how many people are affected. on the landing page.

Here are the most common search queries linked to the coronavirus in South Africa:

When will coronavirus end?

What will happen after the 21 day lockdown?

The importance of self-isolation and physical distancing?

What are the symptoms of coronavirus infection?

How to prevent coronavirus infection?

Is there a vaccine to prevent Covid-19?

How long does Covid-19 live on surfaces

Is the coronavirus linked to 5G?

According to regulations gazetted by communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams every website with a domain name that ends in .za – including every company website that uses the .co.za suffix, every organisation in .org.za, and every academic institution in .ac.za – must link to

the South African government's Covid-19 portal at sacoronavirus.co.za