Fig. 2: Actual measures versus public perception of seriousness of COVID-19 (Colombia, India, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Vietnam).

Bars reflect the rank ordering across countries of the perceived seriousness score from our model, seriousness as reflected in per capita COVID-19 cases measured by testing, and the case fatality rate. The lowest case fatality rate is given the highest rank (7th), where this measure reflects seriousness from a public health perspective through deploying a high testing rate relative to cases and deaths. Cumulative COVID-19 cases & deaths as of 1 March 2022 from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center.