Yahoo Hong Kong reveals city's top COVID-19 searches

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns, quarantines, and social distancing have resulted in everyone spending a lot more time at home and online.

In light of that, Yahoo Hong Kong (Yahoo HK) has released its stats on what Hongkongers' biggest searches have been on its platform while they have been fighting both the coronavirus and boredom.

 Top-10 anti-pandemic supply keywords

1. Surgical masks
2. mask
3. toilet paper
4. bleach
5. hand sanitizer
6. two boxes, thanks
7. ethanol
8. rice
9. hand sanitizer formula
10. sanitizing cottons

Though it's no surprise that masks are in high demand, Yahoo HK noticed an interesting trend. As consumers attempted to stockpile their own safety stashes, they looked to buy in bulk. It saw that comments of "two boxes of masks, thanks" messages flood global online communication. Likewise as rumours about toilet paper shortages spread, the phrase “snapping up toilet paper” also became one of the top-10 pandemic-prevention searches.

Top 10 mental and physical well being product and people keywords

1. Yoga
2. Hiking trails
3. Elva Ni
4. Hiking shoes
5. Nintendo Switch Ring Fit
6. Fitness bike
7. Fitness equipment
8. Country Parks
9. Fitness Centres
10. Hiking Gear

Top 10 home appliance searches

1. Air Fryer
2. Air Purifier
3. Air Cleaner
4. Dehumidifier
5. 5G Mobile Phones
6. Washing Machine
7. PlayStation 5
8. Combination Ovens
9. Bread Maker
10. Ovens

Top 10 shopping platform searches

1. HKTVMALL
2. Watsons
3. ParknShop
4. Bonjour
5. Wellcome
6. SaSa
7. Ztore
8. Aeon
9. Carousell
10. Yata

As the leading online retailer, HKTVMALL has been the go-to platform for Hongkongers to find daily staples, bleach, rice, toilet paper, leading to it actually growing its delivery staff numbers. At the beginning of April it also announced the establishment of its mask factory and expects to start selling them by the month’s end. Its company’s value climbed to HK$4.6 billion. Meanwhile Watsons has taken on a number of initiatives that have propelled it up the chart.

Top 10 learning-at-home tools

1. Zoom
2. eClass
3. iPad
4. Kindle
5. pagamo
6. Phonics
7. eLearning
8. happypama
9. TEDEd
10. Lego Steam

For parents, school suspensions and executing classes at home are big headaches. Fortunately, a number of schools are using the eClass learning platform to share electronic learning materials. Students need only log into the eClass system to access their assignments so as to learn at their own pace and time at home even under class-suspension. As such, PaGamO, Happy PAMA and other target-oriented, online self-learning platforms stand out from the crowd and made it to the Top 10 most popular searches in the “learning at home” category.

Top 10 home entertainment searches

1. Crash Landing on You
2. Joy of Life
3. Forensic Heroes IV
4. Three Lives, Three Worlds, The Pillow Book
5. Itaewon Class
6. The Dripping Sauce
7. Kingdom
8. Someday Or One Day
9. Parasite
10. Running Man

Top 10 finance-related keywords

1. Dow Jones Industrial Average
2. Financial Secretary Budget
3. 10k cash handout
4. RMB exchange rate
5. Yen to HKD
6. Anti-epidemic Fund
7. Australian Dollar
8. Hong Kong Dollar Fixed Deposit
9. Community Care Fund
10. Pounds to HKD

Commenting on the findings co-head of APAC for Verizon Media Rico Chan says, “As a trusted media partner of Hong Kongers, Yahoo has been walking alongside people of this city for the past 20 years. Under the plague of COVID-19 and daily surges of news and updates on the pandemic, we are on an information overload. Yahoo Hong Kong continues to stand with Hong Kong with a Combating COVID-19 live log and website featuring unbiased, accurate and real-time information. Aside from trusted sources of information, Yahoo Hong Kong also lends a helping hand during these challenging times to source masks and sanitizing supplies from around the world and making them available to our members via the Yahoo App.  In lieu of school closure, we also launch an all-new online learning hub (Yahoo Kids Up) that amalgamates reputable self-learning channels to offer students at home premium content and support within the confines of their homes.  With faith, Yahoo will stand strong with Hong Kongers to overcome this pandemic.”

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