Perceived confidence of the local governments in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

Dear Editor, The decisions made by a country's central government in response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks must be implemented by local governments. Furthermore, local governments must shoulder the responsibility of assisting the public with their urgent financial and medical needs during the pandemic. It is reasonable to hypothesize that the pandemic-prevention confidence of local governments may affect public concerns regarding contracting COVID-19. However, neither this hypothesis nor the factors that predict public perceptions of local government confidence have been investigated. The Online Survey Study on COVID-19 in Taiwan recruited participants aged ≥20 years by using a Facebook advertisement from April 10 to 20, 2020. We investigated respondents' perception of self-confidence in coping with COVID-19,1 their local governments' confidence in coping with COVID-19, susceptibility to COVID-19,2 and the adequacy of resources and support during the COVID-19 pandemic.3 We also collected participants' demographic characteristics. Data from 1954 respondents were analyzed. Of all respondents, 385 (19.7%) perceived that their local government had a low level of confidence regarding coping with COVID-19 and 346 (17.7%) perceived that they were highly susceptible to COVID-19. After demographic characteristic and self-confidence in coping with COVID-19 were controlled for, respondents who perceived their local government to be highly confident were more likely to perceive low susceptibility to COVID-19 (Wals χ2 = 11.106; P = .001; odds ratio [OR] = 0.603, 95% confidence interval: 0.447-0.812). The results of the univariate multivariate linear regression indicated that older age, high self-confidence in coping with COVID-19, sufficient basic epidemic-prevention materials (eg, face masks and disinfecting alcohol), epidemic-related information, financial resources, medical resources, and mental support resources were significantly associated with high perceived confidence in the local government (Table 1). These significant factors were selected for a multivariate linear regression, and the results indicated that older age, high self-confidence in coping with COVID-19, sufficient medical resources, and sufficient mental support resources were significantly associated with high perceived confidence among the local government regarding coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. A study reported that possessing sufficient basic epidemic-prevention materials and epidemic-related information reduced public concerns regarding the epidemic.4 However, the present study indicated that the public's assessment of the adequacy of medical and mental support resources was significantly correlated with their perception of the local government's epidemic-prevention confidence. Different levels of governments provide different resources and support during the various stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.5 Local governments have instructed medical institutions under their jurisdiction to offer the required medical and mental support resources, which ultimately became indicators of the local governments' epidemic-prevention confidence. Local governments that display active and effective epidemic-prevention efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic may provide clear directions for the public to follow, thus reducing panic. We suggest that local governments should use the experience gained from the COVID-19 pandemic to establish effective epidemic-prevention strategies and regular drills, to enable them to guide the public successfully during the next epidemic or pandemic. The author declares that he has no competing interests.