Variable	Definitions
Disclose (t-1)	A dummy variable that equals 1 if the local government of prefecture i discloses the origins of confirmed cases on day t-1, and 0 otherwise.
lnConfirmed (t-1)	Log(1+newly confirmed cases) in prefecture i on day t-1.
lnDead (t-1)	Log(1+new deaths) in prefecture i on day t-1.
lnProvConfirmed (t-1)	Log(1+newly confirmed cases in the province where prefecture i locates on day t-1, but excluding the prefecture concerned)
Disclose_Neighbor (t-1)	A dummy variable that equals 1 if the major neighboring prefecture of prefecture i discloses the origins of confirmed cases on day t-1, and 0 otherwise.
lnConfirmed_Neighbor (t-1)	Log(1+newly confirmed cases in a major neighboring prefecture city of prefecture i on day t-1).
lnDead_Neighbor (t-1)	Log(1+new deaths in a major neighboring prefecture city of prefecture i on day t-1).
lnPolicies
COVID-19	Log(1+ count of new COVID-19 insurance policies) in prefecture i on day t.
Medical Treatment	Log(1+ count of new medical treatment insurance policies) in prefecture i on day t.
Serious Illness	Log(1+ count of new serious illness insurance policies) in prefecture i on day t.
Life	Log(1+ count of new life insurance policies) in prefecture i on day t.
Small Business	Log(1+ count of new small business insurance policies) in prefecture i on day t.
Accident	Log(1+ count of new accident insurance policies) in prefecture i on day t.
Travel	Log(1+ count of new travel insurance policies) in prefecture i on day t.
lnPremiums
COVID-19	Log(1+ new COVID-19 insurance premiums) in prefecture i on day t.
Medical Treatment	Log(1+ new medical treatment insurance premiums) in prefecture i on day t.
Serious Illness	Log(1+ new serious illness insurance premiums) in prefecture i on day t.
Life	Log(1+ new life insurance premiums) in prefecture i on day t.
Small Business	Log(1+ new small business insurance premiums) in prefecture i on day t.
Accident	Log(1+ new accident insurance premiums) in prefecture i on day t.
Travel	Log(1+ new travel insurance premiums) in prefecture i on day t.
lnBaiduSearchIndex
Search Keyword 1	Log(1+ Baidu search index using keyword representing the Chinese equivalent of “Coronavirus” (xinxing guanzhuang bingdu)) in prefecture i on day t.
Search Keywords 2	Log(1+ Baidu search index for keywords representing the Chinese equivalent of “Coronavirus” (xinxing guanzhuang bingdu or xin guan bingdu), “Corona-pneumonia” (xinxing guanzhuang feiyan or xinguan feiyan), and “Corona” (xinguan)) in prefecture i on day t.
Ratio of New Users Above 60	Proportion of newly registered users above 60 in prefecture i on day t.
Ratio of New Female Users	Proportion of newly registered female users in prefecture i on day t.
lnMobilePhone	Log(the number of mobile phone users scaled by local population) in prefectural i in 2018.
lnInternetAccess	Log(the number of Internet subscribers scaled by local population) in prefecture i in 2018.
Scaled-Cumulative Confirmed (t-1) > 0.05	A dummy variable that equals 1 if the cumulative confirmed cases in prefecture i on day t-1 scaled by prefectural population in 2018 is higher than 0.05 person per 10 thousand persons, and 0 otherwise.
SARS Cases Above 1000	A dummy variable that equals 1 if the provincial confirmed cases in 2003 SARS pandemic were more than 1000 cases, and 0 otherwise.
Milestone200 (t-1)	A dummy variable that equals 1 if the cumulative confirmed cases in prefecture i on day t-1 has reached 200 cases, and 0 otherwise.
High Above 65 Ratio	A dummy variable that equals 1 if the provincial ratio of population above 65 years old is higher than the median of the province-level variable in 2018, and 0 otherwise.
High Old Dependency Ratio	A dummy variable that equals 1 if the provincial old dependency ratio (population above 65 over working population) is higher than the median of the province-level variable in 2018, and 0 otherwise.
Distrust	Average province-level lack of confidence in local government in 2012, which takes a value between 1 and 4, with 1 as completely trustworthy and 4 as completely untrustworthy.