TORONTO -- If Google searches are any indication, Canadians are concerned about COVID-19 more than anyone else on the planet despite the fact that Canadians make up a miniscule fraction of the world鈥檚 positive cases.
a U.S.-based consumer website offering insights into government programs, shows that Canadians rank first in the world among those who have typed 鈥渃oronavirus鈥� into their search bars.
Eight people within Canada have tested positive for the virus and another 47 Canadians on board the Diamond Princess Cruise ship in Japan have been infected. So far, no Canadians have died.
Canadians represent less than 0.1 per cent of the world鈥檚 76,000 cases, most of which are located in China.
The report鈥檚 findings were weighted by population and included search results from the last 90 days.
Canada is followed by Paraguay, Singapore, Australia, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand. The United States, which has reported 15 cases of the virus, didn鈥檛 even crack the top 20.
For what it鈥檚 worth, Google is not the primary search engine in China, where it is blocked by the country鈥檚 strict Internet censorship policy.
But local prevalence does not appear to be linked to whether or not people are prone to search the virus. Six of the top 20 countries Googling 鈥渃oronavirus鈥� are located in Central and South America, where there have been zero reported cases.
