Table 1.

Themes with description, example tweets and the number of tweets in each category

Themes	Description	Example tweets	Number of tweets (%)
Health information	Tweets that had information regarding transmission, symptoms, prevention and treatment for respiratory illness caused by COVID-19.	‘#WuhanCoronavirus Symptoms of 2019-nCoV include: A fever Dry cough Shortness of breath Trouble breathing Dear all: frequent hand washing, covering coughs, and avoid touching your face https://t.co/jdHHu2O3Yn’.	138 (11.32)
General information and updates	Tweets that give updates on the count of confirmed cases and mortality in different countries. Tweets that share information regarding the steps carried out by the government in airports and hospitals to control and prevent outbreaks. Videos and images of the situation at hospitals in China.	’China has locked down a city of 11 million to slow the spread of the new strain of coronavirus. Latest estimates: 17 dead 4k infected 22+ cities affected in 5–8 countries WHO will soon decide on a declaration of global public health emergency’.	700 (57.42)
Expressions or opinions	Messages in which people expressed their opinions, emotions and clarifications regarding the outbreak.	‘What a nightmare. There is no way any city this size would be comfortable in lockdown’.	294 (24.12)
Sarcasm or humour	Humorous or witty text, sarcastic images, videos and memes related to the COVID-19 outbreak.	‘a little late … The coronavirus has already gone into ”tourist mode”, currently taking airline trips around the globe’.	92 (7.55)